


Of Quills and Quidditch

by DeathRainbows



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Goblet of Fire Crossover, Only Sonic and Shadow from StH will make an appearance, There aren't enough full fledged crossovers for Sonic for I decided to make one, probably, this is gonna be a fun one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:27:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 67,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23123992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeathRainbows/pseuds/DeathRainbows
Summary: Sonic and Shadow were not expecting to have attend magic school. Neither were Harry and the Golden Trio expecting a duo of hedgehogs to invade their beloved Hogwarts. Look out, Wizardkind, chaos has arrived.
Relationships: None
Comments: 56
Kudos: 89





	1. Chaos Control- No, wait go back

**Author's Note:**

> There is in no way, shape, or form, enough Sonic crossovers. So, I decided to write a classic Harry Potter crossover. Things will (mostly) go as planned, but unfortunately for our wizard friends they received the grumpiest and most hyperactive hedgehogs known to man, so trouble is definitely on its way (along with the usual boatload of mischief). Hope you all enjoy reading, and please leave a comment if you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Sonic the Hedgehog or Harry Potter. The story however, is mine to tell.

Sonic ducked and weaved through the jungle vines, drawing ahead of his darker counterpart. If he got caught this early in the race, he'd never hear the end of it. Glancing behind him, the black blur that was slowly closing in was almost an arm's-length away. _'Only a few more seconds...'_ the hedgehog thought, picking up the pace.

"GET BACK HERE, FAKER! _WHERE_ DID YOU PUT MY EMERALD?!" Shadow yelled angrily. The fury in his eyes was unmistakable, however Sonic only laughed at his ‘rage’. 

"Catch me to find out!" He yelled over his shoulder. The wind was howling in his ears, and he was sure Shadow was in the same boat. At the speeds they were going, even a missile impact sounded a bit like normal speaking, if you excluded flying debris.

The cocky hedgehog sped up even further, feet churning through the leaf-strewn ground. They were almost to the last stretch. _'Come on, almost there! Just a few...more...seconds!_ ' Sonic reached his destination and skidded to a halt, while at the same time Shadow, having lightning fast reaction time, tackled his rival, who had just grabbed the emerald out its hidden spot in a large oak tree to his right. Sonic was not expecting that, so both of them ended up tumbling down to the ground, legs in the air and quills poking into each other’s faces. The Emerald rolled to a stop a few feet away. Both hedgehogs scrambled up and clawed for the gem, hoping to Chaos Control somewhere far away from the other. Simultaneously, each called out the fateful command, "CHAOS CONTROL!"

* * *

Of course, Shadow, being the Ultimate Lifeform, woke up first. With a splitting headache. _'What happened...?_ ' he thought, sitting up while nursing his pounding head. _'The race_ ...' And with a groan the ebony hedgehog remembered. He remembered the stupid faker, challenging him to a race for his stolen chaos emerald. While he wasn't particularly in the mood for one, he wanted his emerald back, and who was he to turn down a challenge from the cocky blue hedgehog? Any chance to wipe that idiotic smirk from his face and teach him a lesson in _respecting other people’s property._ But at the current moment, he had more pressing issues to think about. Oh yes, the genius ideas to teleport two places with one emerald. However Shadow knew who the true culprit was. Of course, this was ALL the faker's fault. Now he was stuck who knows where with an agonizing headache, _and_ he did NOT have his emerald. _'Perhaps it teleported with me_?' It was a faint hope. He searched around where he was (an alley, really?) and saw no sign of the mystical gem. He couldn't feel it with his chaos energy either. However, he did see one sight that made him sigh in disappointment.

There was the faker, his body laid out right next him. Damn it all. With another sigh he got to his feet, fought off a wave of nausea, and (gently) kicked the other hedgehog in the ribs. With a sound that seemed like a mix between a pained grunt and air getting kicked out of him, Sonic opened his eyes and rolled onto his other side, cradling his ribs with his arms, all the while blinking groggily. 

"Ouch... Jeez Shads, give me a warning next time!" Sonic complained.

"This is no time to be laying around. Get up and see where your idiocy has gotten us." Shadow would have admonished Sonic on using ‘Shads’, but he had learned long ago that no matter how hard you punched him, Sonic would never give up on his nicknames.

Sonic scrambled to his feet, stumbling a bit dizzily before righting himself. "Did you have to hit me that hard?! Jeez..." He rubbed his ‘injured’ side with an arm before placing his hands on his hips.

"Stop complaining, I didn’t even kick you that hard. Take a look around you Faker. This is nowhere close to where we were." Shadow said, crossing his arms. Today was really not his day.

Sonic glanced up, turning in a circle and surveying their surroundings. Shadow ignored his small noise of surprise as he glanced around the filthy alley they were standing in. A stack of yellow and crumpling newspapers sat in one corner, next to a slimy dumpster. Shadow also noted the graffiti that was scrawled across the dirty gray walls, pinks and blues forming words and pictures. He squinted at one of them, which seemed to depict a place rather than an abstract idea. Perhaps these drawings would yield clues as to his and Sonic’s location? He studied a particularly eye-catching piece. 

Many shades of grey and black were used to paint a large, dull, tired city onto the filthy bricks of the alleyway. On the bottom of the drawing there seemed to be humans dressed in rags, reaching for a roll of what seemed to be toilet paper. Underneath the picture was an exceptionally tiny caption. He squinted at it, unconsciously reading aloud, “London, city of filth.” He shook his head and stood back. He called Sonic over and watched him read the caption. Sonic backed up a bit to get a better view of the drawing, then turned to look at Shadow. His brow was drawn in confusion.

“I’ve never heard of London before. I would’ve thought we were in Station Square, based on the cars and buildings, but…” Sonic crossed his arms and studied the drawing some more. His foot started tapping against the concrete. 

Shadow shrugged, walking over to the newspapers. He knelt down on one knee and started to go through them. The ones on top were unreadable, most likely due to time and elements, so he began to sort through the pile for ones on the bottom. He disliked getting his gloves needlessly dirty so he picked each paper up by only a corner, quickly setting them down and forming a ‘useless’ pile beside the original. Finally, near the bottom he managed to find a somewhat readable copy.

“Faker, stop that infernal tapping and get over here.” He grunted.

Sonic quickly knelt down beside him and the two studied the paper. They began to read, but they both sucked in a breath through their teeth when they read the date.

“No way… Shads, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Sonic murmured, stupefied.

“Unfortunately, I believe I am.” Shadow responded, eyes slightly wide.

AUGUST 13TH, 1994, the paper read.

Shadow whirled on Sonic, standing upright and bristling his quills. He clenched his hands into fists, shaking with anger. “ _DAMN YOU FAKER!_ It’s not enough you have to ruin my day, you also have to teleport us to another goddamn dimension!” Shadow barked.

Sonic held up his hands placatingly an uncomfortable smile planted on his muzzle. “W-Well, it’s not completely my fault! You were trying to Chaos Control too!”

Shadow trembled, glaring at the blue hedgehog. “ _We_ are only in this situation because you _stole my emerald_ . Do _not_ forget that.” He turned around and stalked off. He was going to get his emerald and teleport back home. He would worry about finding the faker again once he had the emerald safely back in his hands.

Sonic attempted to get his attention, but Shadow ignored him. The last thing he needed was another annoyance today. Without turning around, he said, “Faker, I am going to find my emerald. Don’t follow me. I’ll find you again once I have it. _Then_ , we’re going to have a talk about respecting property.” 

Shadow skated out of the alley and turned the corner, and though Sonic could follow him if he wanted to, he decided against it. He really didn’t want to give Shadow another reason to be angry at him. He wouldn’t usually dismiss the chance for a good workout, but this whole ‘stuck-in-another-world’ crap was sort of messing with him. Sonic stretched his legs, preparing to go for a short run to explore this new world. Hey, at least it would be another adventure!

As he ran out of the alleyway, he was unaware of the flabbergasted man who had just witnessed not one, but two over sized animals running faster than cars from his office window across the street.


	2. Vernon Dursley's not-so-normal day

Vernon Dursley had been having a good day, all things considered. His son and wife had been lovely as ever this morning, and he hadn’t even had to see his miserable nephew before he left the house. The commute to work had been quite manageable and traffic was low, so he had managed to get to his office, brew his coffee, and begin working before the clock hit seven-thirty. Unfortunately, his perfect day had been ruined when he had spotted a couple of  _ freaks _ from his office window. Mr. Dursley had heard of early trick-or-treaters, but for Pete’s sake it was the end of August, not October! 

While he had been sipping his coffee, it chanced that he glanced outside his window at the exact same time a white flash had filled the alleyway across from the Grunning’s building. He had spit out his coffee in shock, watching in shock and disgust as the flash receded, leaving two strange creatures laying facedown on the pavement. Now, Mr. Dursley was (unfortunately) no stranger to the…  **_odder_ ** side of life, but despite everything that had happened to him due to his nephew, he could safely say this was near the top of the list of ‘things I wish I’d never seen’. The two creatures, which appeared to be animals of some sort, had on over sized gloves and shoes. They reminded Mr. Dursley of that morning three years ago when he had seen the large group of  _ freaks _ walking down the streets, dressed in cloaks in the middle of summer. 

After a period of time, the furry(?) black creature stirred. Not long after, it’s…  _ companion  _ followed suit. They appeared confused, but Vernon refused to believe that animals could have the same sentience as a man. Vernon’s suspension of disbelief continued as they appeared to…  _ converse  _ with each other. At this point, Vernon was completely flabbergasted, and he hated how everything strange (he refused to say magical) always seemed to happen to him. Fortunately the display ended rather quickly, the first creature abandoning its companion and speeding off, much to Vernon’s confusion. The second creature appeared to think for a moment, before shrugging and stretching, also speeding off shortly after.

His coffee was cold by the time he looked away from the window. Vernon’s face was white with shock, but was quickly purpling with anger. How dare he? How dare his nephew pull one of his freaky little pranks on him? 

Vernon knew he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on work, so as he left he told his coworkers he was feeling rather sick. Most believed him, partly due to his red face, which appeared to be morphing into a tomato. Vernon slammed the door on his car as he got in and sped home, for once uncaring about any laws he broke. However, as he was approaching the Surrey house, he reconsidered beating his nephew. The brat’s damned godfather would surely come and protect the boy, and Vernon did not want to get more involved than he already was with Petunia’s family’s freakish ways.

'Just what in the devil did I see?' He thought to himself as he rubbed his temples with one hand.

Mind weary and annoyed at his inability to concentrate, he slammed on his breaks when he thought he saw the shadow of one of the creatures, but it was only a tabby cat. He shook his head at his own paranoia, and continued to weave the car home. Twice he thought he saw something, but he didn't stop for it, and finally arrived at his house. He got out of the car and headed inside.

As he prepared for his impromptu nap session, he decided to make a call.

"Hullo, is this the police?"

"Yes."

"I would like to report a disturbance."

"What kind?"

"A large public one."

"Please explain the situation."

"I was looking out my office window, and I saw some freaks in costume. Except, I am not sure whether it was costume, because they didn’t appear to be, well,  _ normal _ . As soon as I got a good look at them, they sped off, faster than the cars on the street. I saw them at different times, mind you, but they arrived one after the other, a few seconds apart. Could you perhaps put out a warrant? They were about three foot, one black and one blue."

"Sir, have you been drinking?"

"WHAT? Absolutely not! I can swear upon my life they were real!"

"Sir, do you need some help?"

"NO!"

"Are you sure about that?"

Vernon slammed the phone down angrily into its slot on the kitchen wall. 

“The nerve of some people!” He spat, storming off to bed.


	3. When Harry met Sonic

Sonic dashed past the multicolored cars of the city, only boosting his ego further when he saw how slow the fastest of them were. They were a snail compared to him! He slowed his pace a bit, studying the people inside the machines. A frown came to his face when he remembered how hostile some of the humans here were. Twice he had let the citizens here see him, to see how they'd react. Not well. The first time wasn't so bad, as the man only stared at him for a while. The second time though... they all shrieked in fear and told him to stay away. Some even chased him! Ha! But, he was still fairly uneasy about the whole situation. How were his friends? Was Eggman causing trouble? Of course, Eggman had just recently been beaten, so he had nearly nothing to worry about. The whole reason he had stolen Shadow's Chaos Emerald was because he was bored and needed something to do. But still! The scientist could attack at any moment, and with him gone, he would have an opportunity to cause trouble. Not that he didn't trust his friends with the job, of course! He just wanted to be there in case things went downhill. The hedgehog shook his head and picked up speed, racing towards the setting sun. Just when he was about to hit a light jog, he was suddenly struck by a strange bolt of red light.

He toppled to the ground, onto his hands and knees. He shook the spots from his eyes and stood up, surveying the area. He was very alone, standing on the outskirts of the city. Rolling green hills filled with suburban neighborhoods flowed out in all directions. He spotted the shadow of a human turning around the corner of a nearby building, and dashed there in a split second. It was a man, his black beard matching his dark robes. Sonic smirked confidently up at him as the man stared at the three foot three hedgehog with a look of vast surprise on his face. He was holding tightly onto a stick, which could possibly be counted as a weapon, but the blue hedgehog dismissed it on account of how non-threatening it was. He didn't see anything else that could have acted as the weapon, which prompted him to raise a brow and ask cockily, "Was it you who hit me?"

The man stuttered in surprise, and the hedgehog’s sensitive ears picked up what may have been a "Y-you c-c-can t-t-t-talk?!" Sonic looked up in surprise and slight confusion, still grinning. 

"Of course! Now, will ya answer the question?" The man shook his head and wrung his hands for a moment. He mumbled something under his breath. 

"Huh?! What'd you say?" Sonic asked. Or he attempted to ask. A bolt of red light shot from the tip of the stick, hitting him square in the chest. It knocked the breath out of him, causing him to fall to one knee, holding his stomach. Sonic groaned at the pain. _ What is this? _

The man fired another bolt of red at him, and the hedgehog fell on his side, curling protectively into a ball. His spines lifted in a threatening way as he tried to stand up, however the human(?) took no notice, a slightly gleeful smile forming on his face.

"Not such as smart-ass are we now, half-breed?" Meanwhile, Sonic was fighting for breath and consciousness, trying to stagger to his feet. He was unable to do so, waves upon waves of nausea overcoming him, as well as dizziness. He usually had excellent balance so something suspicious must be going on. Fighting off unconsciousness, he instinctively curled into a tight ball before kicking off the ground with his powerful legs. He spindashed the man into a wall, his skull hitting the stone with a dull thud. Sonic flinched slightly at the sight of the blood that spurted out of the new wound. Robots didn’t bleed. Shaking off his discomfort, the hedgehog grinned triumphantly before promptly collapsing back onto his side from the pain in his stomach. Sure, he felt kind of bad for the guy, but hey, when you attack Sonic the Hedgehog, you better be able to get as well as give. Trembling, Sonic managed to stand up again with the support of the wall, slowly (and painfully) trudging his way out of from behind the building. He glanced around him before spotting a house close by. The light was out in the upstairs bedroom.  _ That’ll work. I can shelter there for a minute or two, look for some medical supplies. _

Sonic limped over to the house, tracing a hand over his injuries. First the kick Shadow gave him (despite what he had said, it had not been not gentle in the least), then the two bolts of red from that other guy. He was panting rather heavily, but this was nothing compared to some of the injuries he had dealt with when fighting Eggman.

Finally, he reached the house. It was a house like any other, in no way standing out from the rest in the neighborhood. Little bushes surrounded the backyard, and a small vegetable garden was planted underneath what he assumed was the kitchen. He steeled himself, drawing in a ragged breath and ignoring the pain, then leapt up from the ground into one of the gardening bushes closest to the dark window. Grunting, he repeated the exercise, this time catching the ledge of the window with his the edge of his fingers. Sonic grit his teeth as his side flared up.  _ Just what was that light? _ He asked himself. He reminded himself he absolutely had had worse, but for some reason his side was  _ killing _ him.

Sonic’s upper body strength wasn’t quite comparable to his lower body strength, but he was definitely strong enough to heft himself up onto the ledge. Briefly glancing up, he saw the light was still off in the bedroom. Grinning at his luck, he felt for the bottom of the window pane and dug his fingers in, pulling up and sliding the window open. He flattened his ears and winced as the pane screeched a little too loudly, but soon enough it was open wide enough that he could slide down onto the floor. He wiggled in and with a slight  _ oomph _ , he hit the carpet. He couldn’t tell what color it was, but he continued forward blindly, groping around and hoping he wouldn’t walk straight into the bed.

**BAM**

Sonic whirled around, quills raised, arms up and legs spread in a fighting stance. His vision was still adjusting, but whoever just slammed the window could apparently see quite well. His eyes darted about, attempting to find the culprit, when a light was suddenly switched on. Sonic took a step back and squinted towards the human-shaped silhouette. 

“Who are you?!” A voice asked threateningly.

Sonic smiled, attempting to calm whoever this was.  _ Sneaking into a clearly inhabited house? Not one of my best ideas.  _ “Heya pal, I don’t want to hurt anybody! The name’s Sonic. What’s yours?”

The person seemed to pause. Now that Sonic had a light source, he could clearly tell it was a male human, with shaggy black hair and glasses. The boy appeared to be a teenager, and he was quite thin (maybe malnourished?) as well. 

“I’m Harry. Harry Potter.” The boy paused as though he expected a reaction.

“Awesome! Ya think you could tell me where I could get some bandages?” Sonic asked cheerily. Harry didn’t seem like the kind to attack someone without provocation. Sonic hoped sneaking into his house wasn’t enough to make him too upset.

That gave Harry a pause. The boy regarded Sonic suspiciously, before carefully walking towards his bed. He sat down and continued to watch the hedgehog. Sonic held an awkward smile on his face. What was this kid waiting for?

The boy cleared his throat before sitting up straighter. He lent forward a bit, eyes narrowed. “What exactly...are you?”

This world must not have Mobians! That explained it. “I’m a hedgehog, of course!” Sonic happily explained.

Harry sat back and crossed his arms. He seemed less suspicious, at least. “A...hedgehog? How did you get here?”

Sonic glanced around the room and saw a chair tucked into a desk, which itself was tucked into a corner of the room, near the door. He padded over and started pulling it out. It was a bit bigger than him, but he was sure he could-

“Woah!” 

The chair had caught on his sneaker and the carpet, which unfortunately meant that it had gone toppling over on top of Sonic. Harry leapt off the bed and quickly pulled the chair off of the downed hedgehog, though he had already managed to wiggle halfway out. 

“Thanks pal!” Sonic grinned up at Harry. The boy stared at him in confusion, then at his own hand, which was still holding the chair, then set the chair upright and retreated to the bed. Sonic jumped up into the chair and plopped down. He slid down into the dip of the chair as Harry watched. Oh, the _ joys  _ of being small.

Sonic leant forward and stared at Harry intensely. “Well, ya see…”

Harry, while still suspicious, took everything in surprisingly well. 

“So… you need this… Chaos Emerald? To go home? And you got separated from your friend, who’s off searching for it?” Harry asked.

Sonic nodded cheerfully.

Harry sighed, leaning back onto his hands. He idly kicked one of his legs. He watched Sonic (who was most definitely  _ not _ a hedgehog) study his room with interest, and noticed a slightly purple splotch right around the hedgehog’s ribs.  _ He did say he needed bandages… _

“Wait a second, I’m going to grab some bandages.”

Sonic nodded again as Harry got up. But to his slight surprise, he only went over to the other side of the bed and tugged open a loose floorboard near the bottom, out of which he pulled a first aid-kit.

“Why’s that in here?” Sonic asked curiously.

Harry shrugged, but he wouldn’t meet Sonic’s eyes. “For emergencies.” He answered.

Sonic frowned, but let it slide. After all, he barely knew this kid. Harry dug out a roll of bandages and tossed them to him. He quickly unwound it and started wrapping it around his chest and ribs.  _ This reminds me of the old days, when I would do this for Tails and him for me. I wonder how he’s doing? _

Harry watched in fascination as Sonic finished up. He held up the remaining bandages, tightening them a bit before holding the roll out to Harry.

Sonic grinned, “What, never seen a giant blue hedgehog wrap some wounds before?”

Harry shook his head, mostly in disbelief at this whole situation, before grabbing the scissors and cutting the bandages. He took back the med kit and stuffed it back into the floor, replacing the floorboards. Sonic got up and stretched, wincing as his newly wrapped injuries moved. 

“Alright Harry, it was nice meeting you! I guess I’ll-”

“How did you get those injuries?” Harry interrupted. It was a bit late for questions, but he wanted to know what had given Sonic that bruise. 

Sonic shrugged. Maybe this kid would know something about the guy that attacked him? Doubtful, but worth a shot.

“This guy dressed in all black shot me with these weird beams of light… know anything about that?” Sonic asked with a raised brow.

Harry froze. “Shot you with a beam of light… was it from a wand?!” He asked frantically.

Sonic shrugged again. “It was from some sort of stick, so...maybe?”

Harry nodded, though it seemed to be to himself. “Sonic, I don’t think you should go back out there right now. You were attacked by a wizard, maybe a Ministry worker of some kind.”

Harry wasn’t expecting him to chuckle. Sonic continued laughing, then glanced up at Harry and asked breathlessly, “W-Wizards? Really?”

Harry nodded in confusion. Wasn’t Sonic some kind of magical beast? Then again, according to his story he wasn’t from this world. It seemed almost unthinkable to Harry, but perhaps they… didn’t have wizards where Sonic was from? 

“Yeah, wizards.” Harry affirmed. Sonic stopped laughing. He turned towards Harry, slightly more serious.

“Listen pal, I don’t doubt it, after I got shot with those weird beams. But could ya tell me what kind of beams- or spells, I guess- they were?” He wanted to make sure that he wasn’t being slowly poisoned or something.

“Probably, but there are a  _ lot _ of different spells out there.”

“Well, it was red, and it seemed to travel pretty quickly, if it was enough to catch me at a light jog.” Sonic said.

Harry crossed his arms and sat down in thought. He had no idea what the last part of that sentence meant (was Sonic supposed to be fast?) but… 

“It was probably either a stupefy, or a jinx of some sort.” Harry replied.

Sonic had no idea what either of those two things were. “Will I be alright?”

Harry nodded. “It was most likely a stupefy, since a jinx or hex would’ve had other immediate effects.”

Sonic nodded in pretend understanding, before he had an epiphany. “Wait a sec- if you know all this, then…”

Harry, for the first time that night, smiled. “Yeah, I am. A wizard, I mean.”

Sonic grinned in delight, and unbeknownst to him his tail started to wag with excitement. “That is so cool!”

Harry smiled, this time a little brighter. It was nice to have someone who thought kindly of him, particularly while at the Dursleys. There were times when Ron and Hermione’s letters weren’t quite enough. He wished he could talk to Dumbledore, but even so, now that he had Sirius-

Harry could’ve smacked himself. The letter to Sirius! He glanced to Sonic, who was looking at him questioningly. 

“Ah, er- can I have my seat back?”

Sonic glanced down for a moment, “Oh, uh, of course!” He said, hopping out with little trouble.

Harry hurriedly turned the seat back around to face the desk and shuffled around for a quill. He sat still for a moment, befuddled. He wasn’t quite sure what to write.

“Whatcha doin’ there, Harry?” Sonic asked. He was standing on his tiptoes beside the desk, and seemed to have completely forgotten about leaving. 

“I need to write a letter to my godfather, Sirius. I haven’t written to him in a while, and I actually just recently met him, you see-”

They were interrupted by a frantic tapping at the window. Harry walked over and curiously opened it. His owl, Hedwig, and a much smaller owl flew in together and landed on the chair and bed respectively. The smaller owl had a letter attached to its leg that almost seemed bigger than its whole body.

“Poor little guy, that letter almost looks too big for him!” Sonic remarked. Harry had to agree. The poor thing was huffing, but it still proudly held out the oversized letter to Harry. He unwound the string that was attaching the letter to its leg, and smiled widely when he realized who it was from.

He quickly opened the letter and started reading while Sonic watched in confusion. 

_ Is this animal cruelty?  _ Sonic thought. He had spent most of his life freeing smaller animals from slavery, so he was a bit bugged by how the smaller owl was treated.  _ But the little guy seems so proud...maybe he likes doing this?  _ Sonic glanced over to the snowy female owl, who held herself with dignity and puffed chest. She seemed happy to have served her owner well. Sonic sighed. If they were happy, then he wasn’t going to pull anything.

“Sonic?” Harry asked suddenly.

“Hm?”

“Would you like to come with me and learn about wizards? My friend just invited me to a wizard sporting event, and I can ask if I can bring you along. If you want, of course.”

A wizard sporting event? That sounded way past cool! Plus, he would hopefully get to learn a lot more about this weird wizard world if he went to a whole gathering of them.

“Sure! But only if that friend of yours is okay with it.”

Harry nodded excitedly before settling down at his desk and beginning another letter. 

Sonic glanced at the female owl, who had flown over to her perch. “So, what’s your name then?”

The owl studied him curiously before chirping.

“Hedwig, huh? I like it.” He turned toward the tiny owl, “And how about you?”

The small owl chirped excitedly before fluttering in a tiny circle, beating his tiny wings before he swooped over and landed on top of Sonic’s head, beginning to nibble on his ear.

Sonic laughed. “Whoa there, little guy. Pigwidgeon? Mind if I just call ya Pigwig?”

The little owl chirped loudly again and fluttered back to the bed, before promptly deciding Hedwig’s perch looked like a better resting place. Sonic watched the two owls fondly. Being in this new world really did remind him of the old days.

“Done.” Harry announced. He glanced at Pigwig and Hedwig, two letters in his hands. 

Sonic frowned. “Hey Harry, don’t you think you should let them rest?”

Harry sighed before responding, “I would like to, but the Weasly’s -my friend’s family- are coming to pick me -or, us, I suppose- up tomorrow, and I really have to get these letters out.”

“Well if ya tell me where to go, I could deliver it to ‘em tonight!” Sonic offered. It would give him a chance to explore and stretch his legs.

Now Harry was frowning. “Well, the Weasley’s are protected by magic, and my godfather is in hiding. I’m not sure if you’d be able to find where they are the same way owl post can. Plus, like I said earlier, if that was a Ministry worker out there then you’re better off staying here.”

Sonic sighed in defeat. There goes his excuse for a run. He did not want to get stung by spells again. “Alright, you got me. But where am I gonna sleep tonight?” 

Harry didn’t look up from tying the letters onto the owls’ legs. “You can have my bed. I’ll sleep in the chair.”

Sonic crossed his arms. “I’m not gonna let a friend give up their bed for me. I’ll take the chair. I’ve slept on worse anyway.”

Harry guided the owls to the window, glancing at Sonic curiously. He’d slept on worse? Harry decided to ignore the comment for now. “Er- alright. Works for me.”

Sonic jumped back into the chair settled into the dip, curling up on his side. Sure, not the most comfortable, but it beat one of Eggman’s dungeon floors any day.

Harry turned the lamp off and climbed into bed. _ Sonic… he already called me a friend. _ The thought was baffling to Harry, but he was too tired to do anymore contemplation.

“Night, Sonic.” He whispered.

“Night, Harry.” Sonic murmured.

They were both antsy with anticipation, wishing that tomorrow were already here.


	4. Just like a cat, I swear

Harry woke to something sharp poking his leg. He groaned and turned over, but if anything the painful feeling only intensified. Sunlight was streaming in through the blinds on the window, unfortunately directly onto his face. Groggily he opened his eyes, only to be greeted with the sight of his midnight visitor sprawled out across the end of his bed. The ‘something sharp’, it turned out, was one (or many) of Sonic’s extremely pointed quills. 

“Sonic, do you think you could move a bit?” Harry asked politely. It quite literally felt like the tip of a knife was being dug into his calf. 

One of Sonic’s ears twitched and he groaned, pushing himself up onto his arms. Harry was thankfully able to move his leg out from under him, after which Sonic settled back down with a yawn.

Harry got dressed and put on his glasses, bemusedly watching Sonic curl up once again. _ He’s like a spiky blue cat _ . Harry quickly and quietly exited his bedroom and headed downstairs, careful not to make any loud noises in order to not disturb the Dursleys.

Frankly, it was bit hard to believe last night had happened, but given that the evidence was right now laying on his bed (and all of the crazy things that had happened to Harry every year since he started attending Hogwarts), his disbelief was rapidly melting into acceptance. Despite his strange appearance, Sonic seemed nice enough. Plus, if there really was anything suspicious happening with him, Harry (and soon enough, the Weasley’s) would definitely be able to keep an eye on him.

The Dursley kitchen was more tense than usual, something Harry found wholly unsurprising. His uncle was dressed in a tight-fitting suit and his aunt in an ill-fitting dress. Dudley was dressed as usual, but Harry found himself stifling a laugh every time he noticed his cousin, as he was walking room to room with his hand clasped protectively over his bottom. No doubt Dudley was remembering the last time he had met a wizard, which had ended with a pig’s tail and a trip to the emergency room. 

“Boy, when are your…  _ friends _ supposed to arrive?” Uncle Vernon asked suddenly.

“Five o’clock, I believe.” Harry responded carefully.

Uncle Vernon grunted in acknowledgement, before turning beady eyes on him. “And how will they be arriving? Cars, I suppose?”

Harry scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. How were the Weasley’s supposed to arrive? They used to have a Ford Anglia (now had been a neat car!), but it was currently running wild in the Forbidden Forest. Perhaps they would take the train, or rent a Ministry car like Mr. Weasley had last year.

“Ah, er- yes, I think so.” Harry finally responded. Uncle Vernon’s eyes narrowed, but he turned back to his paper and continued pretending to read. “I do  _ hope _ they remember to dress properly.”

Aunt Petunia was sitting in the living room, lips pursed in a tight line, and Dudley was sitting in the armchair, his hands still tightly held over his rear.

Harry sighed inaudibly and decided to wait on the steps of the stairs. But before he could sit down, a loud clatter sounded from his bedroom, causing him to whirl around and race up the stairs. He flung open the door and stared in confusion at the sight of Sonic halfway out the window, his own desk chair toppled over next to it.

“What exactly... are you doing?” Harry asked, both cautiously and with confusion.

Sonic didn’t stop what he was doing, continuing to squirm his way onto the ledge. He spoke between huffs and small grunts. 

“Well, ya see- I need to go for a run- and even- if- some wizard guy- comes by,- I’ll just- come back- here in- a- sonic second! Phew, that’s more like it!” He finished proudly, having maneuvered his way onto the window ledge. He dangled his legs off the side and seemed to be preparing to jump.

Harry rushed over and pushed the window open fully, startling him a little. He was out of breath from running up the stairs as quickly as he did, but as soon as he regained his breath he asked, “Aren’t you worried about getting hit with magic again? Besides, we have to leave in about two hours.”

Sonic grinned over his shoulder before launching into one of Aunt Petunia’s bushes. Harry winced. He could already hear her yelling at him. “That’s way to long to sit still! Besides, if I get attacked again, I’ll just have to be quicker than any of those spells they shoot at me. That won’t be a problem for Sonic the Hedgehog! After all, I’m not called the ‘Fastest Thing Alive’ for nothing!”

And so Harry was left staring in shock at the quickly fading blue blur, after which followed what could have been a sonic boom.. He blinked once, twice, then shook his head and closed his bedroom window. He collapsed on his bed and groaned, burying his face in his hands.  _ What has my life come to? _

XXXX

The remaining few hours were spent whittling time away, eagerly waiting for the clock to hit five. After double-checking everything was packed, Harry lay on his bed and imagined what Hogwarts would be like this year. Would classes be harder than before? Well, unfortunately that was rather probable, and he was  _ not _ looking forward to writing more Potions essays. Even thinking about Snape (or even worse, Trelawney), made Harry’s face scrunch up in displeasure. He was looking forward to seeing Ron and Hermione again, and especially being able to watch the Quidditch World Cup in just a few days. He was curious and slightly apprehensive about the new DADA teacher, though. After Lupin (who turned out to actually be the best one he had ever had), he was curious who had been hired. First was Professor Quirrel (Voldemort in disguise), then Professor Lockhart (the less said about him the better), and lastly Professor Lupin. Harry wondered. Perhaps the new teacher-

He was interrupted by a tapping at his window. He glanced over and saw Sonic waving at him from outside the glass. Harry propped open the window and let him in. His fur was somewhat ruffled, but he seemed otherwise okay. 

“No attacks?” Harry questioned.

“Nope!” Sonic chirped.

He started walking to Harry’s desk, beginning to unwrap his bandages. Harry watched curiously, and his eyes widened in surprise when he noticed the bruise was gone. Sonic glanced towards him and chuckled. 

“My ribs? Yeah, they’re fine. Guess Shadow was feeling nice after all!” Sonic explained. He knew that if Shadow had truly wanted, he could’ve left a bruise that would’ve stuck around for  _ days.  _ It was annoying, but Sonic could give respect where it was owed. Shadow’s close combat abilities were no joke, and (not that he would admit it out loud) on par with his own.

Harry checked the clock. It read five fifteen exactly. He sighed. Three, two, one -

“BOY! YOUR FREAKISH FRIENDS ARE LATE!” Uncle Vernon yelled from downstairs.

Harry glanced around his room one last time. Everything was packed and they were ready to go. He nodded towards Sonic- or where Sonic should be.

“No.” Harry breathed.

The Dursley’s screamed downstairs.

Harry rushed down the stairs, two at a time, and ran into Dudley, whose face was a strange mixture of purple and white. Dudley pointed out towards the living room. Harry continued forward, disregarding his cousin in favor of the soon-to-be heart attack his aunt and uncle were sure to have any moment. 

Sonic was standing in the middle of the living room, on the headrest of the armchair. He noticed Harry come in, but evidently the situation wasn’t concerning him the least, given how he greeted him with, “Hiya Harry! These people your mom and dad?”

At this, Uncle Vernon (who had been cowering in the corner a moment before) sprang up, and spat, “Hardly!”

Sonic glanced at him, then back to Harry, then back to him. “Well, then who are you?” He asked, raising a brow.

Aunt Petunia stepped forward, her lips thinner than a piece of paper. “W _ - _ We are his aunt and uncle.”

Sonic nodded happily. “Cool.” He hopped down from the headrest and extended a hand to Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. They regarded it warily, and neither reached to shake it.

Sonic shrugged, then turned to a flabbergasted Harry. “So, Har, -hm, maybe that’ll work- when are those friends of yours supposed to get here again?” Sonic was never, ever late, and he  _ hated _ waiting.

Harry had trouble getting his mouth to work properly. He was honestly shocked his jaw hadn’t hit the floor. Had Sonic really just tried to introduce himself (giant blue ‘hedgehog’ that he was) to his Aunt and Uncle, the most anti-fantastical people on the face of the planet? Evidently, yes.

Eventually, he regained enough control of his body to respond, “They were supposed to be here by five o’clock,” he glanced at Uncle Vernon, who was recovering from his shock and starting to turn purple, and continued, “But I suppose there must have been a lot of traffic.”

Aunt Petunia seemed to have regained some of her wits, as she staggered over to the chair farthest away from the armchair and collapsed into it. Harry wouldn’t be surprised if that armchair was gone when he came back next summer. Uncle Vernon seemed to be seething, but he kept glancing warily at Sonic as he looked around the room, rushing impossibly fast from each object that caught his interest to another. Uncle Vernon cleared his throat, catching Harry’s attention but not Sonic’s. His uncle glanced at Sonic one last time, then stormed past Harry, grabbing his arm roughly and pulling him into the kitchen.

Harry noticed Sonic look up with a frown, but with his free arm he shooed Sonic away. He wasn’t able to tell if Sonic heeded his warning, as his face soon became very full of a seething Uncle Vernon.

“You had better have a good excuse for this one, boy. What is that  _ thing _ in our living room?!”

Harry almost smacked himself when Sonic jumped onto the kitchen table.  _ What is he doing?! _

“I have a name, pal.” Sonic interrupted, frowning.

Uncle Vernon jumped with fright, but he quickly straightened out his tie once he realized he was being scrutinized. “My... _ apologies _ .” 

He left the room. Sonic whistled lowly and whispered to Harry, “Would ya look at that blubber bounce?” 

Harry nearly snorted, and replied, “You should see Dudley.”

Sonic chuckled and jumped down from the table. He stared up at Harry, for once in the time Harry had known him, completely serious. “Harry, I don’t like what I just saw. Are you okay?”

Harry watched him, surprised.  _ Why does he care? _ “Yeah, I’m alright. It’s usually worse than that. Thanks for, you know…”

Sonic turned away, brows set in a deep frown. “Yeah, no problem. Just… I’m not sure how long I’m gonna be around, but if your Uncle pulls something like that again, tell me. I’ll teach him a lesson.”

Harry nearly let a grin slip onto his face. Instead, he settled for a small smile. “Yeah, sure.”

Uncle Vernon’s voice came from the living room. “Boy, when are those friends of yours- AGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Sonic dashed out faster than Harry could follow, but when he arrived he saw Sonic staring curiously at the fireplace, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia once again cowering in the corner. Dudley was nowhere to be seen. Then he heard the voices.

“Ouch! Fred, no - go back, go back, there’s been some kind of mistake - tell George he needs to - OUCH! George, go, go back, there’s no more room, you have to tell Ron-”

“Maybe Harry can hear us, Dad- try to call out, quickly-”

“Harry! Harry? Harry, can you hear us?”

The sound of scraping came from behind the boarded up fireplace, along with the pounding of fists against the wood and stone. 

Harry quickly cleared his throat, “Yes! Yes, I’m here!”

Uncle Vernon whirled on Harry, madly asking, “What is this? What’s going on?!”

Harry fought the mad desire to fall over laughing. He instead wheezed and attempted to get his breathing under control, replying, “They- They’ve tried to use Floo powder! Only, you’ve blocked off the fireplace!”

“Harry, you’ve got to- OOF! Ouch, Ron!”

Sonic had been tapping his foot quickly against the floor, and suddenly straightened up, a bright grin on his face. “Everybody stand back!” He called.

“Hey, who was that? That’s not you Harry, is it?” Mr. Weasley called out through the wood.

Harry glanced at Sonic who was stretching. Just what was he planning? 

“Er- no, that’s my friend!” He said.

“What?” Four voices echoed in confusion.

“No, that’s my friend!” Harry yelled. “Please stand back, he’s going to try something!”

Sonic ran over to the side of the room farthest from the fireplace and dropped into a sprinter’s starting position, beginning to… rev up his legs? They were rotating so fast a red figure eight was formed. The smell of smoke filled the living room, and Harry quickly realized that the carpet was on fire. “Sonic, wait-”

With a whoop Sonic let loose. He was across the room in an instant, launching a spinning side kick on the wood boarding up the fireplace. The wood was instantly shattered into infinitesimal fragments, and all the Weasley’s tumbled out from the fireplace onto the carpet.

Sonic wiped his hands clean of any dust and smirked proudly at all the humans in the room who were staring at him with a mixture of surprise, shock, wonder, and in the Dursley’s cases, disgust. 

“So,” Mr. Weasley said from the floor. He was staring at the displaced fake fire the Dursley’s had had in front of the actual fireplace. “Is this little fire here eclectic?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Shadow makes a discovery while Sonic meets the eccentric Weasleys


	5. Tensions Eased

Shadow hadn't stopped moving since he left Sonic in that alley. While he didn't feel any need to rest, running at incredibly high speeds could get tedious, especially if you’ve been doing it for six hours straight. He slowed to a stop for a minute to regather wasted energy. Looking around, he noticed he was surrounded on all sides by trees. Directly in front of him was a decrepit, dilapidated shack, clearly falling apart at the seams. The wood was rotten and bug-eaten, and what used to be brown oak was now a dirty ash-gray. He breathed deeply for a second, closing his eyes and searching for nearby chaos signatures. He wasn’t expecting to encounter anything noteworthy, but to his surprise, he found an exceptionally high energy signature nearby. Shadow’s eyes flew open.  _ The Emerald...? _

_ It’s coming from the shack! _ He sped off, his whole body tingling from the energy output.  _ It has to be the Emerald... _ ! Shadow barged inside, quickly scanning the area for threats. When none appeared, and he could sense no danger, he gave the one-roomed house a once over. He cautiously walked farther inside. The energy was emanating from a particular spot on the floor… no, not on the floor. In the floor.

Crouching down, he calmly searched for that particular spot in the floorboards, standing up straight and getting into position once he located it. 

“Chaos...Spear!”

He fired the spear directly into the floor, blowing the old wooden boards to the side and to pieces. He cautiously approached the smoking hole, leaning over to study the inside. He was immeasurably disappointed when instead of an emerald, he found an old golden ring, set with a smooth black stone. He scowled, reaching down inside the hole, grabbing the small piece of jewelry. 

The Ultimate Lifeform's scowl deepened. Was something wrong with him? Was his energy sensing unreliable? No, that couldn't be it. As he stood holding the small, ordinary ring, he studied it carefully. There was a symbol engraved upon the black stone, for what purpose he couldn't imagine.  _ A triangle containing a circle and a line...what could it mean? _ The ring seemed fit for a man, not a woman, so he assumed it must be a family relic. He sent a faint pulse of energy into the ring, but he was almost bowled over by the return of energy the ring sent back. It was most certainly chaos energy, but there seemed to be something... off about it, as though it was trying to go somewhere else. As though it didn't belong in that ring. But, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't exactly pinpoint why. He decided to keep it for further study. He glanced at the ring once more. It was clearly meant for a human hand, but perhaps…

Shadow pulled off his glove with his teeth and attempted to put the ring on his hand. Thankfully, it fit nicely over his pinky finger. He put his glove back on and tightened his cuffs. He crossed his arms in consideration. Even though there was something distinctly off about the energy, it was probably usable. He concentrated his energy into his center, envisioning where he wanted to go. That dull city would work for an experiment.

“Chaos Control!”

The ring fed energy into Shadow, and he smirked at the feeling. Suddenly he was traveling through the fabric of space-time, abruptly landing in-

The crunch of leaves caused him to open his eyes. It was the forest outside the shack. “What?” He asked aloud in confusion. A sudden coldness rushed over his body from his left hand, and he rapidly pulled off his glove to check the ring. It was definitely the source of the coldness, and Shadow felt an extremely vile sensation crawling over his skin. It was similar to whenever Black Doom had appeared to speak to him during the Black Arms invasion. Growling, he pulled his glove back on. It would work in a pinch, but he would rather not Chaos Control using the ring again. He prepared his skates for another long journey, giving them his own chaos energy to feed their fires.

He dashed off to the city manually, considering his discovery. This world was quite strange, and it had obvious secrets that needed to be learned if he wanted his emerald back. 

The ring burned coldly on his finger.

* * *

“Electric, Mr. Weasly.” Harry gently corrected.

“Yes, of course! That’s what I said.”

Mr. Weasley, George, Fred, and Ron pushed themselves on their feet. They were all completely covered head to toe in soot from the chimney. Mr. Weasley glanced towards the Dursleys, who were watching the family with suspicion and fear. Uncle Vernon had small pieces of wood in his mustache, while Aunt Petunia had the splinters stuck in her hair.

“Lovely place you got here.” Mr. Weasley said awkwardly. The Dursleys didn’t answer. The living room had certainly seen better days.

“Harry, is that your friend over there?” Ron asked.

Harry grinned. “Yep.”

Sonic waved to the family, earning a shocked expression from every wizard in the room.

“Blimey Harry, I didn’t know you got a new pet!” Ron said.

Sonic was opened his mouth, probably to snark, but Mr. Weasley unintentionally interrupted whatever remark he would have shot back.

“I really am terribly sorry about this whole situation. You see, I had your fireplace connected to the Floo Network - even though you aren’t supposed to, strictly speaking, I have a very useful contact in the Floo Regulation Panel who fixed it up for me- but I really am sorry that I didn’t realize you, er, boarded it up. I’ll light a fire to Floo Ron, Fred, George, Harry, and his friend back to Burrow, then fix this place up in a jiffy and Disapparate.”

Harry was willing to bet the Dursleys had understood exactly none of that. Mr. Weasly turned to Harry and asked brightly, “Got your trunk ready, Harry?”

Harry grinned. “Yeah, it’s right upstairs.”

“Well, Fred, Geroge, you know what to do. But wait just a second- Scourgify!”

The dirt and wood erased itself from the Weasleys, who had taken being kicked out of a fireplace quite well, all things considered.

The twins began to tromp towards the stairs, until they caught sight Sonic lounging boredly on the wall. The duo raced over and began to introduce themselves, matching grins on their faces.

“Hi there, I’m Fred-”

“And I’m George-”

“We really must say-”

“That shade of blue looks rather good on you.”

Sonic’s gaze was bouncing between them faster than a mid-match tennis ball, and a grin matching the twins’ spread across his face.

“Why thank you!”

Fred and George glanced at each other, smirking deviously.

“Why don’t you-”

“Come with us-”

“Upstairs?”

Sonic placed his hands on his hips, a wide smirk planted on his muzzle.

“I’d love too.”

The now trio traipsed upstairs, Sonic dashing ahead to wait for them at the landing. “I’m waiiiiting,” He teased. He checked his non-existent watch and crossed his arms, smugly observing the Weasley twins’ identical expressions of shock, which quickly morphed into smiles as they looked at each other.

“Fred, I believe I quite like-”

“This little fellow? Me too, George.”

The duo charged up the stairs while Sonic chuckled.

Meanwhile, the awkward silence in the living room was getting near unbearable. The Dursleys were  _ still _ cowering in the corner, Mr. Weasley’s gaze was bouncing from Muggle object to Muggle object, and Harry and Ron kept catching each other’s eye and struggling not to laugh. Aunt Petunia had nearly fainted, Uncle Vernon just barely managing to keep her upright, while Dudley was attempting to hide behind his father, failing to realize the only thing that would be able to hide him was a beached whale.

Mr. Weasley approached the television with obvious interest, carefully keeping an eye on the Dursleys like they were collectively a frightened animal. “It runs off eckeltricity, does it not?” He said knowledgeably. “Ah yes, there’s the plug. I collect plugs, you know,” He added to Uncle Vernon, “and batteries. Got a very large collection of batteries. My wife thinks I’m mad, but there you are.”

Harry was quite sure Uncle Vernon thought Mr. Weasley mad as well. He glanced up the stairs. Ron had sidled closer to him over the course of the one-sided conversation, and followed his gaze. 

“What do you reckon is taking them so long?” Ron whispered.

“Dunno,” Harry said. He had an idea, of course, but he was praying that a certain hyperactive blue hedgehog wasn’t causing  _ too _ much trouble upstairs. Or even worse, the Weasley twins planting prank ideas in his head. Harry was sure the Weasley family didn’t need _ three _ pranksters at the Burrow.

Mr. Weasley was unfortunately trying to keep up conversation with the terrified family. He had caught sight of Dudley (not something hard to do) and was trying to make conversation with him.

“Hello, you must be Harry’s cousin.” he said kindly.

Dudley whimpered, clutching his bottom even more tightly, inching his way behind Uncle Vernon in a futile effort to avoid speaking. Mr. Weasley seemed to be genuinely concerned by his behavior, while Harry and Ron were desperately attempting not to burst out laughing at the whole situation. Luckily, the sounds of Fred and George coming down the stairs broke the awfully awkward atmosphere.

George carried one end of the trunk while Fred carried the other, and Harry actually snorted when he saw Sonic lounging on top of the trunk the two were struggling to safely bring down the stairs. Sonic stood up on the trunk, which was starting to sway from side to side from the extra weight, and started tapping his foot loudly against the top. “C’mon, slowpokes!” His foot started tapping faster, “I forgot how slowly humans move!”

“Well, why don’t you-” 

“Get off-”

“And help us-”

“Then?”

Sonic shrugged. “Alright.” He hopped off the top and got under the trunk, pushing upwards and taking the full weight of the (probably) extremely heavy trunk from the Weasley twins to on top of his head. He then jumped onto the handrail and grinded down, taking a huge leap into the living room, skidding to a stop in front of Harry. 

“That everything?” He asked cheekily.

The whole room was staring at him with wide-eyes, utterly flabbergasted. Ron was blatantly staring at Sonic, and breathed, “Wicked.” The Weasley twins were down the stairs in less than ten seconds, beginning to incessantly question Sonic on how in the world he did... _ that _ . 

“It’s easy, all ya gotta do is just rail-grind and jump.” Sonic ‘helpfully’ explained. The twins still looked befuddled, but Mr. Weasley interrupted their little interrogation by pointing at the vandalized fireplace, aiming his wand, and casting, “Incendio!”

A roaring hot fire erupted in the fireplace, crackling merrily. Mr. Weasly threw a bit of Floo powder into the flames, turning them bright green. “Alright, off you go Fred!”

Fred started towards the fire place, but he suddenly tripped on something and was sent sprawling, colorful wrappers flying out of his pockets. Harry examined the wrappers.  _ Candy? _

“Sorry about that!” Fred said sheepishly, “One moment-”

He quickly gathered the spilled treats, shoving the toffees back into his bulging pockets before continuing onto the fire. 

“Hey wait a sec-” Sonic said, watching Fred curiously.

Fred stepped into the flames. Sonic whistled lowly beside Harry, in awe of wizard magic. It was so dang cool! Harry himself watched with interest. He had only used Floo powder once before, and it was one part of the magical world he hadn’t been able to investigate thoroughly.

“The Burrow!” Fred shouted.

There was a whooshing sound and he was gone. Sonic was smiling giddily towards the flames, and Harry didn’t even have time to blink before he rushed into the fire, calling out, “The Burrow!”

And then he was gone.

Mr. Weasley and Ron watched, a bit stupefied. Harry himself would have been more shocked, but he believed he was starting to get used to Sonic’s (rather impulsive) antics.

Mr. Weasley cleared his throat and gestured to the remaining twin. “Right then George, you and the trunk.”

Harry helped George carry the trunk to the fire, turning up vertical so he would have a better hold. George cried, “The Burrow!” and vanished.

“Ron, you next.”

Ron grinned at the Dursleys, smiled more genuinely at Harry, then stepped into the flames to follow his brothers.

It was now Harry and Mr. Weasley, alone with the Dursleys.

“Well, er, bye then.” Harry mumbled. He wouldn’t miss this place.

The Dursleys remained silent. Harry started towards the fire before Mr. Weasley blocked him. He was looking at the Weasley’s in amazement.

“Wait a minute,” he said, “Harry said goodbye to you. Aren’t you going to wish him well?”

Uncle Vernon’s face rapidly purpled, but as his beady eyes flickered from Harry to Mr. Weasley to Mr. Weasley’s wand, he eventually muttered, “Goodbye, then.”

“See you.” Harry awkwardly responded. But right before he reached the fire, he heard a loud gagging noise behind him. He whirled around. 

Protruding from Dudley’s mouth was a long, purple, foot-long… thing. _ Wait, is that…? _

Aunt Petunia wailed loudly, turning Dudley to face her. There were tears in her eyes as she began to pull on his tongue, hard. Dudley gagged again, and started trying to push his mother away from him. Uncle Vernon, having lost control of the situation, noticed Mr. Weasley and started yelling.

“My son! What have you freaks done to my son!”

Mr. Weasley backed up, panicking and holding his hands up in a placating manner. “My son- Fred- he must have- it’s only an Engorgement charm, I think - I can fix it!” He whipped out his wand, pointing it at Dudley. Aunt Petunia screeched like a banshee, throwing herself over Dudley in an attempt to shield him.

“Harry, go, just go.” Mr. Weasley said with a sigh, “I’ll sort this out.”

Harry nodded, secretly reveling at Dudley’s misfortune. He stepped into the fire, which felt like nothing more than warm breath tickling his ankles, and yelled, “The Burrow!”

The Dursleys' living room was spinning around rapidly, then disappeared in a great rush of emerald flames. Harry tucked his elbows in, fireplaces whirling around him, until he felt too sick and was forced to close his eyes. When he felt himself slowing down, he threw his hands out in an attempt to regain his balance, until he finally tumbled out of the Weasleys’ kitchen fire. Ron, Ginny, George, and two red-headed people he had never seen before were seated at the tiny kitchen table, while Fred was standing in front of him, extending his hand to help Harry up. Harry took it, Fred asking eagerly,

“Did he eat it?”

Harry nodded, grinning. “What  _ was _ that?”

“A Ton-Tongue toffee. George and I invented them… We’ve been looking for someone to test it on all summer.”

The kitchen exploded with laughter. Taking in the Burrow once again, it seemed the cozy kitchen had hardly changed since the last time he’d been here. Pots and pans were all askew on the counter tops, and dishes were being magically washed in the sink, soap and water pouring off in shiny waterfalls. 

Glancing around, he noticed the Burrow seemed to be missing one bright blue occupant. “Where’s Sonic?”

Fred shrugged as they sat down at the table. “That blue pet of yours? Said he wanted to go out for a run after being cooped up for so long. Apparently the little fellow rather liked our backyard.”

Indeed, the Burrow overlooked extensive land, seeing as it stood in almost the middle of nowhere. Harry was sure someone who loved to run would have had a field day (no pun intended). 

“He’s not exactly my pet…” Harry explained, “He sort of broke into my room last night. He’s very...independent.” He added, though inwardly he sighed. He had been looking forward to formally introducing the Weasleys to his new friend. 

“Well cheer up Harry, he’ll be back before dinner. Besides-”

Fred was interrupted by a faint popping sound, Mr. Weasley appearing in the middle of the room. He was very clearly fuming.

“That  _ wasn’t funny _ , Fred.” Mr. Weasley said, “What did you give that poor Muggle boy?”

Fred grinned evilly. “I didn’t  _ give _ him anything...I just  _ dropped _ it. It’s not my fault he decided to eat it.”

“You dropped it on purpose!” Mr. Weasley roared. “You  _ knew _ he would eat it, you  _ knew _ he was on a diet-”

“How big did his tongue get?” George asked, expression matching his twin’s. 

“Four feet long before his parents would let me shrink it!”

Harry and the Weasleys nearly fell over with laughter.

“This _ isn’t _ funny! I’ve spent half my life on Muggle-wizard relations, and my own sons-” 

“We didn’t give it to him because he’s a Muggle,” Fred explained, “We gave it to him because he’s a giant git and a bully. Right, Harry?”

Harry nodded. Mr. Weasley’s expression barely softened. “You boys wait until I tell your mother about this-”

“Tell me what?” 

Mrs. Weasley entered the kitchen, hands on her hips. Mr. Weasley, who clearly hadn’t intended to actually tell her anything, swallowed thickly. 

Mrs. Weasley was a plump, kindly woman, a sharp contrast to her tall and thin husband. Presently, however, her eyes were narrowed in suspicion. 

“Tell me  _ what? _ ” She repeated.

She spotted Harry, her expression falling back into her usual smiling disposition. “Hello, Harry dear. Where’s that friend of yours you wrote about?”

Harry gulped, now nervous at being the center of attention in the tense room. “He, er, went out for a run. He should be back in a bit.”

“Wonderful!” Mrs. Weasley said, smiling widely. However, when she looked away her eyes were narrowed again. “What exactly do I need to know, Arthur dear?”

Mr. Weasley smiled nervously, “Oh, nothing Molly. The boys just pulled a little prank while we were out-”

Mrs. Weasley turned to Fred and George, frowning deeply. “ _ Oh _ , did they now?”

Thankfully the tension was dissipated by the arrival of two girls, one of which had red hair matching the rest of the Weasleys and the other of whom had bushy brown hair and two large front teeth. 

“Harry!” They chimed. Harry smiled back at them. Ginny flushed scarlet and looked away, while Hermione gestured for him and Ron to follow her, pointedly looking at Mrs. Weasley, who was flushing scarlet as her husband explained what had happened.

“THEY DID WHAT?! If this has anything to do with Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes-” 

Hermione interrupted, “Ron, why don’t you show Harry where he’s sleeping?”

Ron looked at her in confusion. “But Harry knows where he’s sleeping, in my room-”

“We can all go.” Hermione said pointedly.

“Oh,” Ron said, catching on, “Yeah. Let’s go, Harry.” 

They stood up and pushed their chairs in, preparing to leave the kitchen.

“Yeah, we’ll go too.” George attempted to add.

“ _ You stay where you are! _ ” Mrs. Weasley snarled.

Harry and Ron exchanged glances, then followed Hermione up the zigzagging stairs that led to the upper stories of the house.

“What are Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes?” Harry asked.

Ron and Ginny laughed, though Hermione only scoffed. 

“Mum found this great list of order forms,” Ron explained, chuckling, “Really a huge list, with prices and all that. Except it was all for joke stuff, you know, like fake wands and candy-”

“It’s not funny Ron! Some of that stuff is really dangerous.” Hermione scolded.

Ron rolled his eyes, looking at Harry as if to say,  _ Can you believe her? _ He continued, “Anyway, Mom burned the order forms, the whole stack of them. She was already mad at them ‘cause they did bad on their O.W.L.s, but this just set her off...”

“They got into a whole row about it, because all they want to do is open a joke shop, but Mom wants them to go into the Ministry like Dad.” Ginny finished.

As they continued up the stairs they passed Ron’s older brother, Percy’s, room. The door was open and he was working on a large stack of papers, stamping each and organizing them into different piles.

“‘Ello, Percy.” Harry said.

“Hello Harry.” Percy replied distractedly. “It’s good to see you, but could you please close the door? I really must get this work done for the Minister, I’m truly very busy, I’ll have to catch up later, sorry. It’s actually very hard to concentrate when you’ve got people thundering up and down the stairs all day-”

“We get it, and we’re  _ not _ thundering.” Ron said angrily. He shut the door, none too gently, turning to Harry. “He’s been absolutely insufferable since he’s gotten his assistant position. Goes on and on about how busy and important his work is. I don’t think he’s eaten dinner with the rest of us in a week.”

The group continued up the stairs. Yelling could be heard from the kitchen, which probably meant Mrs. Weasley had found out about the toffees. Harry winced as she started on a long tangent, attempting to ignore the sound when they finally reached Ron’s bedroom. 

They each settled on one of the two beds in the room. Ron ended up sitting with Ginny while Harry sat with Hermione. The small owl from last night was sitting in a cage in the corner of the room, twittering madly. “Shut up, Pig.” Ron said. He turned to Harry and Hermione. “Well, enough about us for a bit. What was that blue pet you got?”

Hermione glanced at Harry, confused. “Blue pet?”

Harry awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, he’s not exactly my pet… more like, well, I dunno. He sort of broke into my bedroom last night, looking for bandages. His name is Sonic. He’s sort of like a cat. Just treat him nice and I think he’ll do the same. He’s a real easy-going fellow, but uh… you saw for yourself. He likes to run, I think.”

Hermione was looking at Harry curiously. “He broke into your room… and you let him be?”

Harry shrugged. “Well, I couldn’t exactly use magic to defend myself anyway. He seemed nice enough, plus he had just gotten attacked by someone, a Ministry worker I think-”

Hermione shook her head, eyebrows knitted. “Harry, I don’t think there would have been any Ministry workers near where you live. Are you sure he’s telling the truth?”

Harry shrugged again. He had been trying not to think  _ too _ hard about the whole absurd situation. “Nothing bad has happened since I met him, and he had a big bruise, on his ribs, I think. I know I should probably be more suspicious, especially after last year, but his story checks out. He seems too… good, I guess, to be working for the Death Eaters or Voldemort.”

Ron and Ginny flinched when he said his name, and one of Hermione’s eyes twitched. She had her hands clenched, and was squeezing and relaxing her fingers as she considered the situation. She still had yet to meet Sonic, so it was understandable she would want more information. They sat in silence for a while, the sounds from the kitchen nearly inaudible. Ron eventually spoke up.

“That’s well and good Harry, but what if he  _ is _ working for You-Know-Who? After everything with Scabbers last year… I mean, don’t get me wrong, he seems nice enough, but I just-”

Harry regarded the group and considered the argument. He didn’t want to doubt his new friend, but he had to admit it was at least suspicious enough to warrant this discussion. He still hadn’t forgotten how Sonic had seemed so at ease talking to the owls, or how he defended him from Uncle Vernon in the Dursley kitchen. Somebody like that, even if they were a hedgehog, was probably fairly trustworthy, at least in Harry’s opinion. “He’s been nothing but kind since he met me, even if he did break into my bedroom. I’m not going to doubt his story until I have more proof. Maybe this is all a wild coincidence, or maybe he’s lying. I’m not sure right now, but…” Harry knew his friends were only trying to look out for him, but he couldn’t help but feel the smallest bit frustrated at their caution. Sonic was a good guy, he was sure. They may have met under suspicious circumstances, but Harry felt confident in his decision to trust him.

“I know you all are only trying to be cautious after last year, but please trust me on this. Give him a chance, at least, please?”

The other occupants of the room all looked at each other, then nodded their assent to the decision. Harry glanced around the room, gaze landing on Hedwig’s empty cage. 

Ron spoke his thoughts. He looked at Harry and asked, “Have you heard from-”

Hermione loudly cleared her throat. Ron looked away sheepishly. Ginny was looking between them curiously, but Hermione covered the lapse in conversation by saying, “I think they’ve finished downstairs…”

The group got up and headed down to the kitchen, where Mrs. Weasley was washing potatoes and complaining about the twins. A loud crash from outside grabbed Harry’s attention and he raced out to see the two redheads from before levitating tables and smacking them against each other. Once they caught sight of him, they set the tables down and came over to Harry, introducing themselves.

“Hullo Harry, I’m Charlie.” One of them said. He looked very similar to Fred and George, shorter and stockier than Percy and Ron. He had a broad, good-natured face, and his skin was weather-beaten and tan. He had a long, shiny burn on one of his muscular arms.

“Hi Harry, I’m Bill.” The other one said. Bill was… there was no other way to describe it,  _ cool _ . He had long hair, and a fang earring piercing. His clothes seemed as though they belonged at a concert of some sort, probably rock or heavy metal. He wore boots made of not leather, but dragonhide.

“Sorry we couldn’t introduce ourselves earlier, with that whole debacle with Fred and George, but still, it’s very nice to meet you. Everybody has told us loads about you.” Charlie continued.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. It’s nice to meet you too.” Harry said awkwardly. Thankfully, he was able to change the subject when he spotted a blue blur in the distance quickly approaching. “Oh look, I think that’s Sonic coming back.”

Bill and Charlie turned around, eyes widening with surprise at the speed Sonic was going. The blue blur quickly skidded to halt by Harry, digging trenches into the ground with his feet. Once he finally came to a stop, he jumped out of the holes he had dug and regarded Bill and Charlie curiously before extending his hand.

“Hi there. I’m Sonic.”

Charlie shook his hand and introduced himself, while Bill had to stoop over to do the same. Sonic glanced at the table sitting on the lawn before turning to look at Harry. “What’s going on, Harry?”

Harry genuinely didn’t know. Thankfully Charlie picked up his slack. “We’re setting dinner for Mum.”

Sonic hummed thoughtfully. “Need some help?”

Charlie looked at Bill, who shook his head. “No, I believe we’re alright.”

Sonic shrugged, hands in the air. “Alright, if you say so. I could go for another run, but I guess taking a nap sounds pretty good too.”

Sonic ended up staying awake, utterly fascinated by the spells Bill and Charlie were firing. He had decided to nap on the roof (the reason for which Harry would never understand. Sonic said something about open air, but he had just as much chance to fall down through the Burrow roof as to get some shut-eye). As Bill and Charlie resumed their table fighting, Sonic had leant forward into increasingly precarious positions, until eventually he was only standing on one foot, leaning over the edge of the topmost window to get a birds-eye view of the match. Harry watched in horror as a gust of wind knocked him over, but Sonic, ever the acrobat, took it in stride, jumping on the floating tables with ease and safely hop-scotching his way to the ground.

Bill and Charlie had looked at him in awe, but he only smiled cockily before pointing towards their wands. “Mind if I try that out?”

The next half hour was spent explaining how wands worked, which left Sonic pouting in disappointment. Harry had tried to remedy the situation by offering to take Sonic to Ollivander’s, to which he responded, “Don’t worry about it. I’m more of a physical kind of guy myself, you know?”

The rest of the evening was spent finishing the dinner preparations for the large family (and their guests). Sonic had asked for a chili dog (whatever that was) for dinner, but Mrs. Weasley explained that they hadn’t any. He decided to go to the nearest town to get one. When he returned, everyone had only just sat down and began serving themselves food, consisting of mashed potatoes, corn, and a strange type of red meat. He had shrugged and decided to go out for another late-night run. Harry, Hermione, and the nine Weasleys were getting used to it at this point, so they comfortably began chatting as they ate.

Percy was telling Mr. Weasley about his job at the Ministry and his report on the marketing of thin-bottomed cauldrons.

“I’ll have the report in by Tuesday, which is sooner than Mr. Crouch expected it, but I expect he’ll be pleased I’ve been keeping on top of things. It’s been extremely busy in our department, you know, what with the World Cup and all that...Really, if the Department of Magical Games and Sports were doing its job, I think we would’ve gotten this all sorted out a while ago. Ludo Bagman-”

“I like Ludo.” Mr. Weasley interrupted. “He’s the one who got us such nice tickets. I helped his brother out of a spot of trouble with a lawnmower, got it all smoothed over for him.”

Percy continued, his voice lecturing. “Oh yes, he’s a perfectly fine man, but how he got to Head of Department I will never know. Comparing him to Mr. Crouch… Mr. Crouch keeps things running smoothly, that’s for sure. You know Bertha Jorkins? From Ludo’s department? She’s been missing for a month. Went on holiday in Albania and never came back.”

“Yes, I was asking Ludo about that.” Mr. Weasley said, frowning. “He says Bertha’s gotten lost plenty of times before now… though, if it were someone from my department, I must say I’d be worried…”

Percy shook his head. “ She’s more trouble than she’s worth. Been transferred from department to department for  _ years _ … Mr. Crouch’s taken a personal interest, she worked for us once you know, but I say we don’t have time to be looking for a missing worker. The Department of International Cooperation to organize  _ another _ big event after the World Cup, as you know…The  _ top secret _ one.” His voice raised towards Ron, Harry, and Hermione when he said the last part.

Ron rolled his eyes as he finished chewing his mashed potatoes. “He’s been doing that for weeks now, trying to get us to ask what it is…”

Harry laughed and continued eating. A little ways away, Mrs. Weasley was bothering Bill about how long his hair was (“The goblins don’t care, Mum!”) while Charlie, Fred, and George were discussing the World Cup on the other side of the table.

“Bulgaria’s got Krum, though,” Fred said.

“Krum’s one decent player, Ireland’s got seven. I still wish England had gotten through. That was embarrassing.”

Harry scooted his chair closer, eager to listen to the conversation. “What happened?” He severely disliked how isolated he was from the wizarding world while at Privet Drive.

As Charlie explained, Sonic returned from his late-night run and walked over to Harry. “What are ya talkin’ about?” He asked curiously.

“Quidditch, and the World Cup.” Harry explained.

Sonic’s eyes lit up. “Neato!” He pulled an empty chair over (thankfully not on top of him again), and settled down to listen. 

“Wait, it’s played on flying brooms?!” Sonic said incredulously.

Harry nodded. Charlie leaned over and grinned at Sonic. “Maybe Harry will let you ride on his Firebolt. It’s one of the fastest brooms in the world.”

Sonic’s eyes shone with interest and excitement. “Fastest? Harry, you gotta let me try it out. Or we could race. I’ve gotta see this!”

Harry agreed to a race sometime. He had to admit, he was eager to test out how quickly his Firebolt could fly as well.

Eventually the sun set and twilight ended. Everybody helped clean up the dishes, even Sonic, who proved surprisingly helpful when he was able to carry numerous dishes to sink at high-speed, making clearing the tables quick and easy.

The twelve occupants of the house bade each other goodnight and headed to bed. Harry could hardly wait for tomorrow. Sure he had to get up ridiculously early, but he was going to the  _ Quidditch World Cup _ . He could hardly wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, the Dursleys are finally out the picture and the Weasleys are in. Hope you enjoyed this extra long chapter!  
> Next chapter: We're finally here! The Quidditch World Cup! But who's this black hedgehog?


	6. Tents On the Moor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! Shadow is officially back in the plot!

It had happened only once during his daytime run. Shadow had run into a man, who had stared at him in befuddlement before regaining his wits and pulling out a stick. The man attempted to hit him with rays of light fired by the stick, but Shadow had quickly taken care of that problem with a swift kick to the groin. The man was sent sprawling, already unconscious before he hit the ground. Shadow had been curious as to how the stick worked, so he had taken it and waved it around. Nothing happened. He felt rather ridiculous, and growling loudly at his self-embarrassment, broke the useless piece of wood. He was disappointed to find only a hair of some sort inside, and nothing suggesting how the rays were fired. He tossed it behind him and resumed his search for the emerald. He wasn’t feeling tired, per say, but he was growing weary of the fruitless searching. He forced himself to admit that perhaps two pairs of eyes would be better than one. Shadow would never swallow his pride and admit he needed help, but he would figure out a way to get faker to come with him, even if it involved a black eye.

Truthfully, he was a bit tired of searching alone. This new world… he wasn’t sure he liked it. It was inhabited mostly by humans, rather than Mobians, all of whom stared at him incessantly whenever he entered a town. Shadow was a solitary creature by nature, but it was frustrating to not even be able to enter a town to get food. Yes, he didn’t  _ need  _ it, but it was a force of habit, one he wasn’t quite ready to kick.

Shadow easily picked up Sonic’s chaos signature (bright as it was in this dull world, he could see it like the beacon of a lighthouse) and followed it. The sun hadn’t yet risen, meaning he would most likely get there within the next hour, just after daybreak.

* * *

Sonic yawned and uncurled from his spot on the roof. His fur was a bit damp, nothing a good shake wouldn’t get out, and though his muscles were a bit stiff, once he stretched they would be good as new. 

The real reason he had declined sleeping inside was because it would feel...well, awkward. This whole new-world deal left him feeling a bit apprehensive, something quite uncharacteristic. The people here were kind, fun, and strange, and Sonic could admit to himself he was getting a little attached to the kid, but accepting to sleep in their house seemed… a bit too personal for his tastes. These people were a close-knit group, almost family (some of them _ were _ family), and no matter how reckless he was in other matters, he just wasn’t one to intrude on relationships.

Sonic never shied away from making friends, but he had always had a bit of an independent streak his whole life (though it was nowhere close to Shadow’s), borne from the burden of being Mobius’ first and last line of defense. When he was younger, he had liberated the whole of South island by himself. Adults had never tried to help him, too busy discussing the new threat that was Robotnik than actually doing something. So, he had taken matters into his own hands and freed every critter that had been trapped inside the robots, stopping Robotnik all by himself. He had been ten at the time. The next year, a small little fox, then only six years old, had started following him, and the two of them had been the ones to save Westside Island. No adults had tried to help them then either. Sonic wasn’t going to complain, despite his own feelings on the matter. Being the guy who saved the world a few dozen times had its perks, particularly when it came to unrestrained freedom. 

Eventually, more and more people had started coming into his life, and he had welcomed them all with open arms. But oftentimes he just felt the need to get away and go for a long run, with nothing but the wind in his ears and the grass under his feet. It helped him destress and not have to think about anything for awhile. _ But I always had people to come back to.  _ He had never known his parents, so in a sense his friends  _ were _ his family. Tails was (obviously) his little brother and best friend, Amy was his like his little sister (despite what she may want to be), and Knuckles was the annoying older brother.

Now, in this new world, he had left most of them behind. Shadow was here (and despite what he may say, they were  _ totally _ friends), but Sonic missed every else back home, especially Tails.  _ I hope he’s doing alright…  _ Sonic knew Tails was probably fine, but his Big Brother Instincts wouldn’t stop nagging him. He grit his teeth and stood up.  _ This isn’t like me!  _ He needed to be doing something, out adventuring and exploring this new world to get his mind off his emotions. Sonic finally shook out his fur, spraying droplets everywhere, and jumped down, using the protruding windows as leverage on his way to the ground. He heard the noises of Harry and the others waking up, so he assumed they’d be down in a few minutes. Unfortunately, a few minutes was _ way _ too long for the Fastest Thing Alive to wait. He stretched and decided to do a few laps around the Burrow the pass the time.

He nearly crashed into the front door during his fifth lap, but managed to swerve just in time to avoid hitting Mr. Weasley. The poor man blinked for a few moments at the sudden wind whipping across his face, but smiled genially when he spotted Sonic trotting back towards the house from far out in the corn fields. “Hullo, Sonic!” He called.

Then he caught sight of the newly made path of flattened corn stretching into the distance, and sighed. Would a Reparo work on plants?

“Mornin’ Harry, Ron, Hermione! Hello, Mr. Weasley!” Sonic greeted cheerfully. He was in a good mood after his morning run. The twins were being held up in the kitchen by Mrs. Weasley who was summoning candy from them like a vending machine. The twins had matching glowering expressions on their faces once they were finally allowed to leave. The wizards (slowly) began their trek, filling the dullness of walking with conversation.

“So how  _ does _ everyone get there without Muggles noticing?” Harry asked Mr. Weasley. Sonic assumed he was talking about the World Cup, though he was still a bit confused on what Muggle meant. Mr. Weasley had used it when referring to the Dursleys, hadn’t he? Perhaps it was somebody who couldn’t do fancy wizard tricks, like that awesome table battle yesterday.  _ Yeah, I probably wouldn’t mesh well with a wand, and I don’t want to learn any spells or whatever, but man, magic is so cool! _

Mr. Weasley was explaining the ins-and-outs of wizard transportation. A certain word that kept being mentioned caught Sonic’s attention. “What Apparition?” He asked curiously.

Hermione, who had been trailing at the back of the group, had apparently heard his question, as she ran forward to where he was and began to say knowledgeably, “Apparition is the process fully-trained witches and wizards use to travel instantaneously from one location to another. It’s a bit like teleportation, if you think about it.”

_ Instantaneously? _ “So, it’s like Chaos Control then?” 

“Chaos Control...What’s that?” Hermione asked curiously.

“Oh, it’s uh…” Sonic had forgotten that this world didn’t seem to have Chaos Energy, much less the Chaos Emeralds. “It’s a form of teleportation on my world. But you need a Chaos Emerald to perform it. Shadow could probably tell you more about it than I could…”

Sonic chanced a glance at Hermione, and saw her brows creased in thought, one of her hands drumming against her thigh. The lapse in conversation caused him to truly notice the temperature. _ I’m surprised it isn’t snowing! _ He rubbed a hand under his nose to try and chase off the chill of dawn, then rubbed his hands against his arms to try and get some friction. They were approaching a village and had been walking for  _ ages _ , and Sonic still wasn’t sure where they were even trying to go. “Gimme a sec’, Hermione…” 

He dashed off to go talk to Mr. Weasley, unfortunately making Hermione even chillier with the breeze. Sonic put his hands behind his head and casually interrupted Harry and Mr. Weasley’s conversation. “Hey Mr. W, where are we going?”

Mr. Weasley stared at him in surprise for a moment at the form of address, but quickly answered, “Stoatshead Hill, right up ahead.” He pointed to a black mass in the distance.

“Well Mr. W, mind if I speed things up?”

Mr. Weasley checked his watch and cocked an eyebrow curiously. “What exactly did you have in mind?”

Sonic explained his plan, causing Mr. Weasley and Harry, who had been quietly listening, to gape at him. Mr. Weasley eventually cleared his throat and rubbed his hands together. “Well, I- I suppose so, depending on whoever wants to.”

“Cool.” Sonic flashed a thumbs up before falling back to where he left Hermione. “Hey ‘Mione, want a quick ride to the top of that hill?”

Hermione looked at him like he had suddenly sprouted another arm, eyebrows drawn. “It’s not nice to tease, Sonic. You certainly don’t look like you could carry-”

Sonic waved a hand at her before smiling. “I’m not pullin’ your leg, I promise.”

Hermione glanced around. “Well, alright. If you’re sure.”

Grinning, Sonic swept her legs out from under her and sprinted to the top of the hill in no time flat. Setting her down gently, he looked up. She was staring at him peculiarly. “Thank you.” She said finally.

“No prob.” Sonic flashed her a thumbs-up and went back down to the rest of the group, who had just entered the village.

Ron curiously asked, “Where’s Hermione?”

Sonic fell into step by his side. “Want to find out?”

Ron glanced at him. “What d’you mean?”

Sonic repeated the same process with Ron, placing him gently next to Hermione. He grinned at both of them before repeating the process with the rest of the group, all of which eventually fed off each other’s excitement and formed a line for him to pick up. 

Harry was last in line. Sonic walked up to him, placing his hands on his hips, and teased, “What am I, a delivery service?”

Harry’s face fell a bit. _ Oh Chaos, that probably wasn’t the right thing to say- _ Sonic thought, panicking. “H-Hey, I didn’t mean it buddy! C’mon, it was a joke-”

His worry disappeared when Harry loudly laughed, doubling over. “Sonic, I wasn’t serious!” 

Sonic smiled once he realized he had nothing to worry about, waving a hand to try and play off his embarrassment at having been tricked so easily. “Yeah yeah, get a good laugh outta that. C’mon, let’s go to the others.”

Everyone was combing the top of the hill, looking for the Portkey. Harry had quickly explained what it was, but Sonic was feeling a bit out of breath after having carried seven heavy humans up a (quite steep) hill. He rested on a nearby tree for a moment, one foot propped against the wood as he stifled a yawn. 

The group was having almost no luck combing the grass, and Mr. Weasley kept frantically checking his watch. “Sonic saved us a bit of time, we’ve got twenty minutes left…” he muttered before resuming his search. 

“Arthur, Arthur old boy, over here, I’ve got it!” An unfamiliar voice called.

Mr. Weasley squinted into the darkness before a smile spread across his face. “Amos Diggory, is that you?”

Two tall figures were silhouetted against the rising sun on the opposite side of the hill. “It is!” Mr. Weasley exclaimed before striding over to where they were standing.

Stifling another yawn, Sonic followed the rest of the group as they crossed the hill. The man, Amos, was holding on to a moldy boot as he shook hands with Mr. Weasley. Sonic wrinkled his nose at the smell.

Amos was a ruddy-faced man with a scrubby brown beard, and the boy next to him was presumably his son. They shared the same nose, eyes, and ears. 

“Everyone, this is Amos Diggory. He works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I believe you know his son, Cedric?”

Harry and the rest of the wizards nodded. Sonic only shrugged. Amos went around introducing himself and shaking hands with everyone, until he got to Sonic. His eyes widened and he crouched down staring him in the eyes. His eyes flickered rapidly to Mr. Weasley before returning to Sonic. 

“What’s this you got here, Arthur?” Amos cautiously asked, before continuing, “The color reminds me of a Billywig but the shape is more of a murtlap and niffler cross…though that’s a bit off as well. I must say, I’ve never seen anything like it before. Where in the world did you find it?”

Sonic glowered (or tried too. He probably looked more like he was pouting). “Listen pal, I’m a hedgehog, not a murtler.”

Amos’ eyes widened, as did Cedric’s. He gave Sonic another once-over. “A hedgehog, you say? Capable of human speech? Tell me, who is your owner? Witch or wizard?” He extended a hand to touch his spines.

Sonic reflexively jumped away, flying high and landing a few yards away. He crossed his arms and glared, allowing his displeasure to show. “My name is Sonic. I don’t have any owner and I don’t obey anything except the wind.” He looked away haughtily. What was with humans and thinking he was a pet?

Amos stood up hastily, and to his surprise, apologized. “I’m truly sorry. I didn’t realize you were intelligent enough to roam independently.” He backed off a bit, but added matter-of-factly, “You’ll come to get registered at the Ministry, of course.”

Sonic regarded him warily. “Registered?”

Amos peered at him over his glasses. “Oh you know, set up laws, discuss rights, create restrictions-”

Sonic shook his head. That already sounded like a load of crap. One restriction would quickly turn into many if he didn’t put his foot down. “Listen pal, I’m not from around here, so a lot of this jargon you wizard guys use is goin’ over my head. But trust me; you don’t tell Sonic the Hedgehog he’s going to be restrained. Especially if you want him to cooperate.”

Amos nodded (though Sonic doubted he truly cared about what he had just said), turning towards Cedric and pulling him a little ways away to talk about something, most likely him. Sonic’s sharp ears were more than able to pick up the conversation. 

“I must say, the fact that Arthur Weasley was the one to have discovered a new species of Being...never would have expected…”

Sonic stopped listening out of disinterest. He had thought that the wizarding world wasn’t so bad, but the fact that these people thought they could restrain him had him on edge. He had seen their fancy spells, and yeah they were cool, but what happened once they were used against him? He shivered. Best not to think about it. Besides, he would be able to fight off these wizard guys no problem. He was more than physically able to protect himself.

Thankfully Mr. Weasley, checking his watch, realized what time it was and called everyone over. “One minute to go!”

Amos held out the boot, which all the wizards put one of their fingers or a hand on. Sonic followed suit.

A boom sounded out in the distance.

Sonic turned around.  _ That sounded awfully familiar… _ He squinted, the rising sun glaring off the wet grass. No way!

“Shadow?!” He yelled, though he knew the black blur was too far away to hear him. Shadow was running at top speed straight towards them.

_ Oh no, at this rate he’ll topple us all over! _ Sonic started frantically waving his arms, withdrawing his hand from the boot, and walked a few paces away to try and create some distance. He knew Shadow must be using his Chaos sensing abilities to track him, which probably meant he was too focused on getting to him than taking in his surroundings. “Shadow, slow down!” He cried.

Thank Chaos Shadow must have seen him waving his arms, since he began to slow down once he reached the village. Unfortunately it was too little too late, as he went flying up the hill trying to create enough friction to stop himself, and landed right on top Sonic.

“Oof…” Sonic muttered blearily. He felt like he had gotten hit by a truck (perhaps even the GUN one that had chased him throughout the city). He could faintly hear the group, Harry in particular, yelling at him and telling him to get back over to the Portkey. He staggered to his feet.

Shadow was already brushing himself off, not acknowledging his embarrassing landing. He glanced towards the pile of wizards (who were all terribly dressed), then back to Sonic, confusion clearly evident on his face. 

“Faker, what-?”

“No time Shads!”

Sonic grabbed Shadow’s arm and dragged him over to the Portkey, quickly reaching up and touching it. He urged Shadow, who had his arms crossed and was glaring at him, to do the same.

“Never grab my arm again, or I’ll make you regret it. Now what in Chaos’ name are you doing?”

“C’mon Shadow, I’ll tell you in a minute. Just touch the moldy boot!”

Shadow grunted his displeasure but reached up to touch the boot. His glove met the boot just in time, as immediately the world went sideways. Sonic felt as though all the air had been kicked out of him (which could just be Shadow taking revenge), but as the sensation continued, he felt more and more nauseous, which lead him to believe it was the Portkey’s fault. His hand was stuck to the boot, but he was thankful because it was acting as an anchor as everything spun around him, the wind howling and colors swirling. Sonic ran at ridiculously fast speeds, but he was always in control then. Right now he almost felt like he was going to throw up, and he was willing to bet Shadow was feeling the same.

Abruptly the sensation ended and Sonic was dropped roughly on the ground. Now he felt like he had been hit by two GUN semi-trucks, at exactly the same time. He pushed himself up from the damp grass, looking around. Amos, Mr. Weasley, and Cedric were still standing. Everybody else, including Shadow, was groaning on the ground in the fetal position.

“Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill.” said a voice.

* * *

Sonic clambered to his feet for the second time that morning. Shadow quickly followed. As the rest of the group got up, Shadow marched over to Sonic and grabbed his arm, dragging him over to the side.

“Hedgehog, you better have a damn good explanation for what just happened. Give me one good reason not to punch you-”

“They’re wizards, Shadow.”

Shadow stared at him blankly. “What.”

Sonic laughed. “They’re wizards.”

Shadow shook his head. “I heard you, just…  _ what? _ ”

Sonic grinned, clasping his hands behind his back as he explained. “They use wands and stuff. They can cast spells. It’s really cool, I’ll have to ask them to show you sometime. Wanna hear what you missed?”

Shadow rolled his eyes. “I’m sure you’re going to tell me all about it, whether I ask you too or not.”

“You’d be right,” Sonic laughed.

He began to explain everything that had happened after they got separated, Shadow occasionally asking a question or two to clarify. Once he finished, Shadow was shaking his head in disbelief, arms crossed. “What sort of trouble have you already gotten yourself into?”

Sonic snickered, beginning to walk back to the group. “Almost none, actually.”

Shadow frowned, catching up to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. “I’m not done with you, faker. You’re coming with me to search for the emerald.”

Sonic turned around and shrugged off his hand. “Eh, I don’t really feel like it right now. Maybe after the World Cup.”

Shadow’s brows knotted in frustration. “Why are you so interested in their affairs?”

Sonic glanced back towards the group, who were chatting with two people he had never seen before. He looked back towards Shadow and said calmly,

“I made some friends. C’mon, I’ll introduce you. Plus, this world is really cool. Maybe if you relaxed a little you might enjoy it more. The emerald can wait.”

Shadow growled, but Sonic was already walking off.  _ Why can’t that faker listen to reason?  _ Shadow thought crossly. He needed to go emerald hunting again, but he had to admit he  _ was _ somewhat interested in these wizards. Perhaps a short break wouldn’t hurt.

He followed Sonic, observing the group of strangely dressed people. They had left the other two strangely dressed people and were beginning to tread across the misty moor. Shadow narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Wizards? They certainly didn’t look it.

“Hey Guys!” Sonic chirped. Shadow rolled his eyes. How was he always so annoyingly cheerful? “This is my friend Shadow.”

The group paused and murmured among each other, as if just now noticing the extra person in their posse. The first human to introduce them self was a boy with wild black hair and a pair of round glasses. “Hello, my name is Harry. Harry Potter.”

The second were a pair of red-headed twins. They clearly belonged to the red-headed man, as the resemblance was incredibly uncanny. 

“Hello, I’m Fred,”

“And I’m George,”

“And we think you look,”

“Quite dashing.”

Shadow glanced between them, silent. He was unsure what to make of the compliment(?). The red-headed girl and the remaining boy introduced themselves as Ginny and Ron, and lastly he met Hermione and Mr. Weasley. The other two, a man with a scraggly brown beard, was muttering to himself, and the boy who was probably his son was keeping to himself. The two separated from the group soon enough.

“So, what d’ya think Shads?”

“...Eccentric.”

Sonic chuckled, and they continued the walk in near silence, which the blue hedgehog kept breaking with his incessant chatter. Sonic attempted to get him to explain what he had been doing for the past few days, so he told him the strange attack of the man and the stick. He left out his discovery of the ring, wanting to keep that particular tidbit to himself for now. Sonic took it upon himself to answer Shadow’s question about the purpose of the stick.

“Oh, that was his wand. From what I understand, you basically just crippled the guy by breaking it.”

“Good.”

“Shadow!”

Shadow chuckled quietly and Sonic crossed his arms behind his head, whistling a familiar tune. Now it was truly quiet, only the occasional bug chirp breaking the stillness of the moor. Shadow enjoyed the silence. It was a welcome change from the howling wind that usually accompanied his travels. 

Eventually they came upon a flat stretch of field with triangular objects poking out of the ground. With a start, Shadow realized they were tents. Hundreds upon hundreds of tents, all pitched up in sporadic order, all different colors and shapes. Shadow’s eyes widened as he saw over ten people exit a relatively tiny tent.  _ What in the world-? _

Glancing next to him, he saw Sonic looking around with similar wonder. The humans (or wizards, he supposed), were treating it as though it were completely normal, and continued on their way towards a cottage in the distance. 

A normally dressed man exited the cottage and was looking around in obvious confusion. Mr. Weasley approached him with a smile on his face.

“Morning!” He greeted cheerfully.

“Morning.” The man said.

“You wouldn’t happen to be Mr. Roberts, would you?” Mr. Weasley asked.

“Aye, I would.” Mr. Roberts said. “And who might you be?”

“Weasley- two tents, booked a couple days ago?”

Mr. Roberts put his hand on his chin and turned towards the door to the cottage, checking a list of wizard names that were pinned up. “You’ve got a space by the wood there. Just the one night?”

“That’s right.” Mr. Weasley said.

“You’ll be paying now, then?”

“Certainly!” Mr. Weasley turned around and beckoned the Harry kid over. “Harry, come help me with this,” He whispered loudly, “Muggle money, you know how it is…”

Shadow and Sonic watched curiously as he took out rolls of paper and unfolded them. Each piece of paper had a number on it, presumably corresponding to its worth. 

“I didn’t think about how currency might be different in this world...” Sonic said.

“I did.” Shadow responded. His empty stomach had kept reminding him he hadn’t been able to purchase anything with the rings he had on him.

Sonic hummed in acknowledgement, but they didn’t speak and instead watched the curious transaction. Mr. Roberts was also watching with interest.

“You foreign?” He asked.

Shadow’s ears perked up. Was this form of currency also incorrect?

“Foreign?” repeated Mr. Weasley, puzzled.

“You’re not the first to have trouble with money. Had a couple ’a blokes try to pay me with gold coins the size of hubcaps about ten minutes ago.”

“Oh...Did you really?” Mr. Weasley asked nervously. A drop of perspiration (or was it water from the foggy air?) traveled down his head.

Sonic and Shadow watched with narrowed eyes, unintentionally mimicking the other. This wasn’t going well.

Mr. Roberts appeared to be rummaging around in his pockets for something, pulling out a few round shiny objects. Peering more closely, Shadow noticed that the objects were completely filled in, and appeared to have some sort of symbol etched on them, though the symbol was very different from the one on the ring.

“It’s never been this crowded before.” Mr. Roberts said suddenly, looking out over the misty field. “Hundreds of pre-bookings. People usually just show up randomly…”

“Is that right?” Mr. Weasley asked in a tight voice.

Shadow and Sonic’s ears were angled forward in interest. Shadow knew that this man was obviously catching onto something he shouldn’t. Perhaps the wizards were something of a secret society? Certainly, most of the towns he had passed by during his travels had nobody like the people Sonic had met. He turned his head to catch Sonic’s attention.

“Faker,” he whispered, “how much do you know about the relationship between wizards and the normal people of this world?”

Sonic frowned, and answered equally quietly, “Not much. They call the normals ‘Muggles’. I think it’s just a term, but I have no idea how the two groups as a whole are supposed to get along. The wizards don’t seem to know much about the Muggles, and vice versa.”

Shadow nodded. That would explain some of the monetary confusion and the strange way the wizards were dressing, as if they were trying to imitate normal humans.

He noticed an increasingly nervous Mr. Weasley and Mr. Roberts, who was talking to himself about the strangeness of the wizard gathering. He caught the tail end of what the normal human was saying. “...There’s a bloke walking ‘round in a kilt and a poncho.”

“Shouldn’t he?” Mr. Weasley said anxiously.

“It’s like some sort of...I dunno...like some sort of rally,” said Mr. Roberts. “They all seem to know each other. Like a big party.”

There it was. Shadow knew he would figure it out. After all, no matter how hard the wizard people were trying, they definitely were not being subtle. Hell, Shadow was a giant hedgehog in a world full of humans, and he was pretty sure he would be able to blow something up with fewer questions asked by the general public than these people. It was the little habits that gave someone away, Shadow knew.

As this was going through his head, a human (a wizard, Shadow presumed) appeared with a crack and pointed his ‘wand’ towards Mr. Roberts, saying sharply, “ _ Obliviate! _ ”

A green flash flew from his stick directly into Mr. Roberts head. His eyes went out of focus, his brows unknitted, and a look of dreamy unconcern fell over his face. Sonic, ever the hero, flew into action, pointing in an accusatory manner toward the man.

“What did you do that for!?” He cried.

The wizard looked down his nose at him. He had bags under his eyes, but Shadow didn’t feel sorry for him. The way he was looking down at Sonic with superiority clear in his expression said enough about the kind of person he was. “It’s standard procedure, creature. Out of the way.”

The wizard walked over to Mr. Weasley, starting up a conversation. Sonic was bristling, but Shadow walked over to him and blocked his view of the man. 

“Faker, I doubt these people know how to treat Mobians like you and I. Even the humans in Station Square sometimes act as though we are mere animals. It’s nothing to get yourself worked up over, so let it go. Were you not the one who wanted me to give these wizards a chance?” He said calmly, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

Thankfully Sonic quickly calmed down. “Yeah, you’re probably right. But still… that’s not right. Why does it have to be kept such a huge secret anyway? I don’t get it.”

Shadow remained silent, watching the wizard disappear with another crack. Mr. Weasley now had a map and was stuffing the round objects Mr. Roberts had into his pockets. Sonic walked up to start asking Potter his questions, so Shadow fell into step at the back of the group. He amusedly noticed that many of the tents that would have otherwise been normal had strangle little add-ons that gave away they belonged to somebody not quite familiar with ‘Muggle’ culture, such as weather vanes, bellpulls, and even the occasional chimney. The farther they progressed into the moor, the more it became obvious that wizards were show-offs. One tent had brilliant plumage, with several peacocks tethered out front. Shadow rolled his eyes as Sonic stopped to chat with them. Why he bothered to speak with birds (or Flickies, on their home world) was beyond Shadow. He found that avians made for rather bird-brained conversation. Some of the following tents were even more extravagant. One had three floors, and the next had a birdbath, sundial, garden, and koi pond out front. Shadow scoffed. Didn’t these wizards have anything better to do than glorify their tents?

The odd little entourage finally stopped at the edge of a wood. Harry and Hermione began to pitch the tents while Sonic and Shadow watched from the sidelines. Shadow had idly asked how they were all supposed to fit into the two rather tiny tents, to which Sonic only shrugged.

“Well, it’ll be a bit cramped, but I think we can make it work!” Mr. Weasley said brightly. He got onto his hands and knees and crawled through the flap.

Shadow raised an eyebrow and regarded the tents. They would be more than a _ little _ cramped, to say the least. If it was supposed to be three per tent (or if, Chaos forbid, he and  _ Sonic _ had to share a tent) he would gladly take sleeping in the forest. Sighing, he nodded his head towards Sonic, then angled it towards the tent. “Fakers first.”

Sonic huffed in mock annoyance, but went ahead and crawled in first, muttering, “You’re the only faker around here.” Shadow followed, but he would later deny he let out a small gasp at seeing the inside.

_ Perhaps these wizards really are magical…  _ The tent contained a three-room flat, fully equipped with a kitchen and bathroom, with two sets of bunk beds up against the wall. Shadow dusted himself off and peered around. The appliances appeared fully functional, with plumbing and a working stove.  _ Incredible. _

Sonic let out a low whistle beside him, hands behind his head. He turned towards Shadow, grinning. “Aren’t wizards nifty?”

Shadow merely nodded, then exited the tent for some fresh air. Although he was impressed by the wizards’ ability to put so much space into something so small, it smelled much too strongly of cats inside. Sonic followed him, annoyingly persistent as always.

“I’m still mad at you for taking my emerald and dropping us in this world.” Shadow admitted. “But, quite frankly, you could’ve done much worse.”

“Aw, is that a compliment, Shads?”

“In your dreams, maybe.”

Perhaps a moment passed in silence before Sonic asked, “Wanna race?”

Shadow considered it, then grinned, fangs shining in the afternoon sun. “Just don’t blame me when you lose, faker.”

They raced for maybe a half hour, though there wasn’t a conclusive winner. Shadow was sure he was won by a few meters, but Sonic said he had won by over a kilometer (which was definitely a blatant lie).

Three more red-heads had arrived at the campsite, who Sonic quickly introduced as Percy, Charlie, and Bill. Shadow could appreciate Bill’s style.

“Hey Mr. W, what’s for lunch?”

Mr. Weasley gestured towards the eggs and sausages cooking on a traditional outdoor fire. Sonic impatiently tapped his foot, watching the food sizzle closely.

Hermione was looking at him strangely. “Sonic, you know that won’t make them cook faster, right?”

Sonic turned to her, staring at her with wide-eyes, dead serious. “Trust me, I think it will.”

Hermione knitted her brows, then let him be. “Alright…” She trailed off in confusion.

Shadow wandered around the campsite, then came upon...Percy, he believed. The boy looked up, peering at him curiously. He cleared his throat, then looked away uncomfortably.

“You know you and that blue hedgehog will have to get registered eventually… Dad told me all about the incident this morning with Amos Diggory. Really, your friend seems to have trouble respecting authority, not to mention the law.”

_ Don’t I know it… _ Shadow thought to himself. Outwardly he said, “He’s not my friend.”

“Really? You two seem rather close, not to mention you look quite similar.”

Shadow raised a brow. “Do we?” 

Percy awkwardly looked away. “W-Well, I don’t mean to be rude- I mean, not  _ that  _ similar of course- but, you know, there’s the whole thing that you’re probably part of the same species- don’t blame me, Ron came up with that one- a-and-”

“Relax.” Shadow inwardly chuckled. “Can you tell me about the Ministry of Magic?”

That got the boy going.

Midway through Percy’s tangent (which ended up being quite informative), a man by the name of Ludo Bagman arrived at the Weasleys’ campsite.

Bagman wore the most noticeable clothes Shadow had ever seen, and that included the Doctor’s. He was a rosy-cheeked man, with blue eyes and blond hair, though rather than the thinness of a young schoolboy he had a large beer belly. “Ahoy there!” He said, waving cheerily. He walked as though he had springs on the bottom of his feet, and was plainly in a state of wild excitement.

Bagman caught sight of Sonic, who was chatting with Ron by the fire. His eyes bulged, and a large smile swept across his face. “You must be the one Amos was talking about! I heard your rather fast. Say, do you think you could outrun a speeding broom?”

Shadow grimaced as Bagman furiously shook hands with Sonic. It wasn’t that he felt bad, but more that he could empathize with disliking being touched. Sonic eventually managed to pull his hand away, though his eyes were burning with a competitive fire and he had a cocky smirk on his face.  _ Here we go...  _

“Outrun it? I’d make it eat my dust!” He bragged. Shadow rolled his eyes for what felt like the tenth time that day.

“Really?” Ludo’s eyes were shining with excitement. “Fancy a flutter?”

Sonic sweatdropped. “Uh...what?”

Bagman’s energy didn’t diminish in the slightest, much to Shadow’s disappointment. “Oh, you know, make a bet, throw in some coins…”

Shadow stepped forward as Sonic opened his mouth, surely to place down money he didn’t have. “No, he doesn’t. Because he’s broke.”

Sonic put his hands on his hips and huffed as Shadow stole Bagman’s attention. “And who are you?” He asked curiously.

“Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Lifeform.” Shadow waited smugly for the usual awe to come over Bagman’s face. It didn’t.

Sonic burst out laughing behind him, and Shadow whipped around, glowering. “What, faker?”

“S-Shads-” Sonic said in between breaths, trying to stop laughing. “These people don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. They probably don’t even have an Ark.”

Shadow froze stiffly.  _ Inconceivable. _ “I am the Ultimate…” He trailed off, noticing Bagman’s blank expression. 

“Fine.” He turned swiftly around and marched into the forest.  _ How embarrassing. _ At least the faker wasn’t following him.

* * *

“Well, er-” Bagman caught sight of Mr.Weasley. “Hello, Arthur old boy!”

Sonic glanced after the brooding Shadow, deciding he didn’t want to get his face beaten right this minute. Sonic knew how to toe the line, but he also knew when not to cross it. He’d let Shadow work off some steam, though he would totally remember this moment whenever he wanted a good laugh. 

“Ludo Bagman! How are you, old chap?”

Ludo and Mr. Weasley broke into conversation regarding the World Cup, until he eventually asked if Mr. Weasley wanted to bet with him as well. Sonic frowned grumpily. He wanted to bet, but of course Shadow had to be logical. 

Mr. Weasley laughed good-naturedly, but declined. Fred and George on the other hand, eagerly accepted.

“We’ll bet thirty-seven Galleons, seventeen Sickles, and three Knuts that Ireland wins, but Viktor Krum gets the Snitch. Oh, and we’ll throw in a fake wand too.”

Ludo tried out the wand, getting a good laugh out of it, and agreed, adding a five extra Galleons (which turned out to be the wizarding currency). Mr. Weasley tried fruitlessly to get the twins to not bet their whole life savings, but Fred and George would have none of it. Sonic could understand where they were coming from. After all, what was life without a little uncertainty?

The conversation turned towards a man named Barty Crouch. Sonic faintly remembered that Percy had offhandedly mentioned him during their first meeting, and he believed he remembered that he was supposed to be Percy’s boss. 

“Oh- Speak of the devil!” Bagman shouted.

There was a loud cracking sound that Sonic was coming to associate with Apparition (not Chaos Control, he had to remind himself). Who should appear but Crouch himself? He was an impeccably dressed elderly man in a tweed suit, with polished shoes and a pencil straight mustache. Sonic was instantly reminded of Professor Pickle.

“Hello Barty! Pull up a bit of grass, will you?” Ludo said amiably.

Crouch looked down his nose at the wasp-robed man. “I’d rather not, Ludo.” He said stiffly.

Before Sonic could blink, Percy instantly hovering around Crouch, asking if he could get him anything.

“Tea, please, Weatherby.” The Professor Pickle look-alike said.

Fred and George snickered as Percy’s ears turned bright red. “Yessir.” He muttered.

Sonic strolled up to eavesdrop as Mr. Weasley, Crouch, and Bagman fell into discussion about banned carpets and the World Cup.

Percy returned with the tea, but at that point Crouch was ready to leave. “Come up, Ludo. We’ve got to meet the Bulgarians.” He turned to Mr. Weasley, adding, “It was nice to see you Arthur. Do meet with Ali Basher please, before I have to get my department involved.” He continued, this time addressing the children of the group. “And do stay safe during the event this year. It really is quite the honor, though the effort involved sometimes makes me wonder why we brought it back.”

With that he and Bagman Disapparited from the camp site. Sonic’s ear twitched in idle thought. Wizard politics were complicated. 

An excited energy fell over the campsite, and it soon seemed as if the air itself were palpable with tension. Shadow finally finished sulking in the woods and returned, though the knuckles on his gloves were dirty with bark and soil. 

“Somebody’s been busy,” Sonic teased.

“Faker, one more comment like that and I  _ will _ punch you.”

“Yeah, yeah. You know, maybe if you weren’t all talk, I’d take your threats more seriously…”

What was that about knowing when to not cross a line? Forget it.

Shadow growled furiously and launched himself at Sonic, who skipped away to the top of a nearby tree. He stuck his tongue out, but Shadow quickly followed him up and Sonic bailed, clearly seeing the intent of a Chaos Spear in his eyes. Sonic dashed throughout the forest, Shadow closely following, and the wizards watching with concern as more than a few trees were toppled.

The ‘brawl’ was eventually resolved when two or three Ministry workers intervened, telling Mr. Weasley to ‘please keep control of your pets’. Sonic opened his mouth to irritably respond but Shadow swiftly kicked him to shut him up until they disappeared with a  _ crack _ .

Harry, Ron, and Hermione went off to go buy some souvenirs for the World Cup. Sonic followed them, whistling at all the neat trinkets wizards were selling. Station Square had nothing on this place.

“Harry, don’t, it’s fine.” Ron muttered, turning red.

“Three Omnioculars.” Harry said firmly.

They turned around to return to the campsite, but Harry caught sight of Sonic and waved him over. Sonic was caught up watching a wizard fireworks display, which supposedly wouldn’t stop unless someone threw a water spell on it. 

“Ah, er- Sonic, d’you… want anything?” asked Harry awkwardly.

Sonic waved him away. “Nah, it’s fine.” He didn’t want Harry to feel like he had to buy him something. Sure, he was the kid’s friend, but he wasn’t going to start mooching off of him so soon. 

The trio waved goodbye, chattering excitedly about the game to come. Sonic’s eyes were drawn towards the stadium, which had just begun lighting up in the distance, beautiful colors sparkling in the cloudless sky. “Wow…” He breathed.

The games had begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is probably my favorite chapter so far... Ugh, I'm trying so hard to keep everyone in character and keep the story interesting. Please let me know what you liked, disliked, any grievances, etc. I want everyone to enjoy the story. Feel free to leave feedback (thank you, Just_Will!), or if you have any questions. Big thank you to Gimme_like_a_1000_cats and Chilly Willy for commenting! Leave a kudos if you enjoyed, and as always, have a wonderful day! Oh, and please please please give me writing advice. I'm totally an amateur, and any advice would be much appreciated.
> 
> Next Chapter: The World Cup finally ends and the Dark Mark lights up the sky.


	7. Backdrop of Darkness

Mr. Weasley led the odd group to the enormous stadium (and honestly enormous could not begin to describe it), and Sonic took it upon himself to explain to Shadow how exactly Quidditch worked, but he was almost 80% that he wasn’t listening or he didn’t care.

“Shadow, you’re not going to have any fun if you don’t know what’s going on.” Sonic pointed out.

Shadow merely huffed and looked away. “You’re lucky I’m even still here at all. Remember, as soon as this Cup is over,  _ you’re _ coming with  _ me _ to go to search for emerald.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sonic waved a hand dismissively. Shadow growled, and Sonic strolled ahead to the rest of the group, keen on actually enjoying himself this evening, unlike Mr. Grumpy-Pants over there.  _ Can’t he ever lighten up a little? _

His ears twitched when he caught the sounds of hundred, no, thousands, _ tens of thousands _ of people bustling and cheering about in excitement from within the stadium.  _ And wizards are supposed to be a secret society? _

“Hey Mr. W, how do you wizard guys hide something like this from normal people? Can’t they see the fireworks and all that?” 

Mr. Weasley smiled, addressing both Harry and Sonic as they continued forward. They were nearly at the stadium. 

“It took five hundred Ministry workers the whole year, but they’ve managed to cover every inch of this place in Muggle Repelling Charms. Any Muggle who comes to investigate the noise or lights immediately remembers an important appointment, and they’ve got to dash away...Bless them.” He added fondly.

Sonic put a hand on his chin. There was something else he wanted to ask… Oh!

“But why do wizards even have to stay hidden in the place? It would take some getting used to, but surely you guys and the Muggles can get along?” 

Sonic paused when almost all the wizards stared at him incredulously, obviously scadelized. He sweatdropped. “...What?”

They finally arrived at the gaudy gold stadium. A witch dressed in an extravagant set of bright robes thankfully interrupted the conversation, busily pointing towards a set of stairs. “Prime seats! Top Box! Straight upstairs, Arthur, as high as you can go!”

“Ah, um, yes, thank you!”

_ Carpeted stairs? Fancy. _ Mr. Weasley’s party continued their trek upstairs, passing by what seemed to be infinite offshoots of passageways leading to other boxes. Sonic craned his neck, attempting to peer into each one, but they all eventually blurred together enough that he stopped caring.  _ She said straight up, didn’t she? _

Sonic dashed up the stairs in the blink of an eye, gasping when he finally emerged from the stairway into the incredible night air. A wide smile was on his face as he looked around in awe. Wizards really were amazing.

The shiny green grass on the field below appeared to be like velvet from his vantage point, and a giant blackboard was on one side of the stadium. Golden scrawl continuously appeared on it, as though a giant hand were writing then quickly erasing the shining letters. 

Mrs. Skower’s Magical All-Purpose Mess Remover: No Pain, No Stain!

Bettlebrew’s Thick-Bottomed Cauldrons - Protect your home from Leaky Potions

Hermia’s Toad Foot Remedy, the only frogicide on the market!

Sonic continued watching all the different wizard advertisements until the rest of the entourage arrived. Shadow trailed at the back of the group, probably uncomfortable due to the sheer amount of people who were present. 

“Hey Shads, you interested in going with me to uh-” Sonic glanced at the blackboard, “Drunt’s Drunkary? I heard they have great liquor!”

Shadow scoffed. “Trust me faker, if I were to go it certainly wouldn’t be with you.”

Sonic chuckled, turning around to see where the Weasley party was sitting. The box was basically empty aside from them, except for a tiny bat-eared creature who looked much too small to be sitting in a human chair. It was dressed only in a tea towel, draped across its body like a toga. Sonic immediately felt the need to protect it, as it clearly looked like it was crying, with its head buried in its hands.

Sonic began to approach them, but Harry beat him to it. “ _ Dobby? _ ” He asked incredulously.

The creature looked up through its fingers, enormous glassy tennis-ball shaped eyes widening when they saw Harry. “I’s not Dobby sir!” It squeaked. Sonic and Shadow winced at the pitch. Perhaps the creature was a female?

Harry looked away, a red tint on his cheeks. “Sorry, I just thought you were someone else…”

“But I knows Dobby too, sir!” She(?) squeaked. She continued to hide her face, as though scared of the golden light that bathed the stadium. “My name is Winky, sir - and you, sir-” Her eyes traveled to Harry’s forehead. Sonic squinted. What was the big fuss? It was only a small scar. “You is surely Harry Potter!” She said in awe.

Sonic tapped Harry on the shoulder. “Why is she acting like that, Harry?”

Harry glanced at Winky, seemingly a little annoyed. “It’s nothing.”

Ron leaned over the seat behind them, and said, “Wait, you mean you don’t know? Harry’s the one who beat You-Know-Who when he was only a baby!”

Sonic frowned, put his hands on his hips and started tapping his foot. “Actually, I don’t know who.”

All the wizards gasped in surprise. Sonic glanced at Shadow, who looked indifferent to the development. He turned back to Harry, whose cheeks were flaming. “Harry, what’s he talking about?”

“It’s nothing.” Harry tried to wave him off. Sonic’s frown grew deeper, but he eventually shrugged and let it go. He’d tell him if he wanted to.

It was silent in the Box for a moment, before Harry asked Winky, “Er- How’s Dobby doing? Is freedom treating him well?”

Winky shook her head sadly. “Ah sir, meaning no disrespect sir, but I is not sure you did Dobby a favor, sir, when you is setting him free.”

Sonic crossed his arms. What was going on now? “What are you talking about? Aren’t you free, too?”

Winky let out a high-pitched squeak, and her eyes widened to enormous proportions. “F-Free, sir? Winky cannot think about freedom, no sir. Winky is very happy, working for her master, yes sir, she is.” She said, obviously horrified at the idea of free will.

Sonic shook his head, baffled. “Does your, uh, master at least pay you?”

Winky looked like she was about to faint. “N-No, sir! P-Perish the thought!”

“So… why do you work for him then?” Maybe she was like one of Eggman’s henchmen, who were intelligent enough to work on their own but stuck to their creator like glue (probably because they felt sorry for him).

Winky stared at him curiously with her glassy eyes. “Because sir, I am a house-elf. We house-elfs do what we is told. I is not liking heights at all, sir, but master tells me to save him a seat, and so I comes.”

Sonic was completely bewildered why any creature would willingly put themselves into servitude like this. “But… don’t you want to be free?”

Winky shook her head furiously. “No, sir, never. Dobby is free, and he is getting into trouble, yes he is. That is what freedom does’s to a house-elf sir. Winky is a good house-elf, yes she is, she never gets into trouble.” Winky nodded, finishing off her argument.

Sonic scratched his head. These house-elves were wacky. He glanced at Harry, who seemed as though he wanted to ask more questions. He stepped out of the way and walked over to Shadow, who was leaning against the railing of the box overlooking the field. He had his eyes closed in clear concentration. 

Sonic remained silent, also leaning against the railing. A creature that would willingly put themselves into slavery, ignoring their own wishes to listen to someone else’s… He just didn’t get it. Freedom had always been his way of life. He ran with the wind, uncaring of what life threw his way, and as long as he could choose where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do, he would be happy. To find a person so utterly uncaring of their own wishes was beyond him to understand.

Shadow twitched next to him, hand clenching tightly into a fist, then quickly relaxing. Sonic glanced over just as his eyes snapped open. The crimson seemed a bit brighter than usual, as though aglow in the inside.

“The chaos energy in this world is...very strange,” Shadow said, almost to himself. “Right here, in this stadium, it is absolutely overflowing. However, when you and I separated a few days ago, it was as though this world was completely barren. I traveled very far, but only now is the chaos energy of this world appearing on my radar.” He studied the stadium carefully, eyes narrowed. “It is as though each wizard has trace amounts of chaos energy, and when they all come together, it congregates. Of course, their ‘spells’ are also made of chaos energy, so perhaps they have a very primitive form of Chaos Control, channeled through those ‘wands’ of theirs…” He was quiet for a moment. “I need to study this further.”

Sonic stared at him a moment. “Alright, if you want too. I guess that means sticking with these wizards will probably give us more leads on the emerald than anything else.”

Shadow shrugged. “Perhaps.” He said gruffly. He didn’t say it out loud, but he thought this plan sounded much more productive than his original plan to simply scour the planet until they found the gem. “But even all of these wizards together do not match the power of one emerald. I wonder if perhaps this world has hotspots, similar to this Cup, where many wizards congregate. It would probably be best to start there.”

Sonic nodded in agreement, though inwardly he was sort of surprised (and pleased). That was probably the most words Shadow had ever spoken to him at one time.

The box gradually began filling up over the next twenty minutes. Mr. Weasley shook hands with people who were obviously very important in the wizarding world, including the Minister of Magic himself. The Minister’s name was Cornelius Fudge (Sonic had unfortunately snickered rather loudly, causing the Minister to whirl around angrily. Sonic, however, was much faster, and was already out of sight before he could blink).

Along with Fudge came the Bulgarian Minister, dressed in splendid black velvet robes trimmed with gold. Harry was greeted with awe yet again, but when the Bulgarian Minister caught sight of Sonic and Shadow he started babbling excitedly to them too. Fudge, obviously tired from his attempts to understand the man, sat down and rubbed his temples.

“Палтото ти е красиво. Ще бъде страхотен килим. Може ли да взема проба?” The Bulgarian Prime Minister said. Sonic glanced towards Shadow, who watched indifferently.  _ Seems he doesn’t know what this guy just said either.  _ The Minister took out a knife from his pocket and held it towards Sonic. Sonic stared blankly at it. He then proffered it to Shadow, who snatched the weapon from him and strode away haughtily. The Bulgarian Minister seemed disappointed, so Sonic smiled awkwardly at him and made his escape.

The Bulgarian Minister turned back to Harry and pointed at his scar excitedly, earning a sigh from Fudge. “Yes, that’s Harry Potter…Oh, I’m no good at this language thing...” The Bulgarian Minister took a seat next to Fudge and started to chatter excitedly to him, much to Fudge’s chagrin. A few moments later, though, Fudge’s eyes lit up as he spotted a long-haired blond man enter the box. “Ah, and here’s Lucius!”

Sonic watched him carefully. He already didn’t like this guy. Exchanging glances with Harry, it seemed as though he already knew of this man and greatly disliked him as well. A petite woman and a boy greatly resembling Lucius followed the man, though each had a foul look upon their face, as though they had just smelled dog feces.

“Ah, Fudge,” Lucius said, extending his hand to the Minister of Magic, “How are you? I don’t believe you’ve met my wife, Narcissa? Or our son, Draco?”

Fudge smiled genially. “How do you do, how do you do?” He gestured towards the Bulgarian Minister, “And allow me to introduce you to Mr. Oblansk- Obalonsk- Mr. - Well, he’s the Bulgarian Minister of magic, and he can’t understand a lick of what I’m saying anyway, so never mind. And who else… Oh! You know, Arthur Weasley, I daresay?”

Lucius’ eyes narrowed. Sonic, who was behind Harry and thus out of sight for the moment, could only listen to his clearly hate-filled voice. “Good lord, Arthur,” he said softly, obviously full of contempt, “What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn’t have fetched this much?”

Sonic bristled from the insult, though it wasn’t directed at him. He nearly jumped out from his hiding spot to defend Mr. Weasley, but then a better idea came into his head. He hid his smile behind his hand as he snuck around, farther back in the box, until he was just behind the three empty seats that surely belonged to Lucius’ family. The prank would need precision timing, as he wasn’t sure who was going to sit where, but he was confident that the Fastest Thing Alive would be able to pull it off, no problem.

Lucius’ family continued blatantly insulting the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione, while Fudge paid no attention to them and continued talking. Eventually the blond-headed family decided they were done and came to sit down. Sonic pulled out one of his razor-sharp quills, placed it at  _ just _ the right angle behind Lucius, disappearing in a flash.

The sharp yell from Lucius nearly made him double over with laughter from his new vantage point on top of the stadium wall, but he just barely caught himself from falling forwards. Sonic had excellent vision, so he was nearly sent into another fit of giggles when he spotted Lucius holding up a royal blue quill with a look of absolute shock and disgust on his face, unconsciously cradling his bottom with one hand. His family began fretting and checking their own seats while Harry, Ron, and Hermione exploded with laughter in front of them.

Sonic had a bright grin on his face, enjoying causing distress to snooty better-than-you kind of people. He lounged on top of the stadium wall, watching as Ludo Bagman began to make an announcement. He had magicked his voice to sound incredibly loud in order to reach the whole stadium, but for Sonic’s sensitive ears it was a bit too much. He had to flatten them against his head, and idly wondered how Shadow, whose senses were (just a little bit) better than his own, was faring.  _ Where did he go anyway?  _

Checking the giant blackboard, he saw that the advertisements were now gone, replaced with a scoreboard reading **Bulgaria: 0** **\- Ireland: 0.** Apparently it was time for the team mascots, as a group of inhuman women called Veela glided out onto the field.

They put on a great show, sure, but it definitely left Sonic wondering why many of the men in the stadium now had one leg over the side of their boxes. He was concerned Harry and Ron seemed to be ready to jump ship (or in this case, Box), but Hermione managed to wrangle them under control.

Next, a great golden ball of light flew around the stadium, doing two complete circuits just above Sonic’s head. He leapt up to race it, but unfortunately it traveled into the center of the stadium , splitting into two before reforming into a giant shamrock. Those were quite rare on Mobius, and Sonic would admit he was as entranced with the light show as the rest of the crowd. The giant shamrock flew over the stadium in a gust of gold, showering golden coins down on top of the crowd. As the shamrock completed its final loop, Sonic reached up to touch it, and managed to shake hands with a small little man in a red vest, nested inside the shamrock among thousands of other little men, who smiled merrily at him. A sudden pile of gold coins landed on his lap, and he studied them with a huge smile on his face.  _ This world is ridiculously cool. _

“And that concludes our pregame show! Now, introducing our Bulgarian National Quidditch Team!” Ludo announced.

“Dimitrov! Ivanova! Zograf! Leveski! Volkov! Aaaaand- Krum!”

The team zoomed out on their brooms as seven scarlet-clad blurs (of course, Sonic could keep up with them just fine). Krum in particular stuck out to Sonic, with his severe looks and serious expression. He was thin, dark, and sallow-skinned, with a large curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He appeared to be taking the match rather seriously.

Ludo introduced the Ireland team, calling off, “Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaand- Lynch!”

Seven green blurs shot out onto the field, and Sonic sat up and leaned forward with interest.  _ These guys really are fast! _

A dark-skinned man strode onto the field, Bagman announcing him as the referee, Hassan Mostafa. He was carrying a crate under his arm, which he sat down before mounting his broom. He swiftly kicked the crate, releasing three- no, four, Sonic realized, spotting the Snitch rapidly fluttering away - balls, kicking off the match.

“THEEEEEY’RE OFF!” Ludo screamed. Sonic winced, but continued watching the match with interest. Those brooms were pretty nifty, almost like Extreme Gear, but… well, brooms. He’d have to ask Harry if after their race he could try out his Firebolt.

Ludo was explaining the match in excruciating detail, but Sonic wasn’t listening, preferring to tune him out and pay all of his attention to the match. It wasn’t often something could catch his full attention, but the Quidditch World Cup was definitely on the (rather niche) list, along with lakes (yuck) and Chaos Emeralds. Dimitrov had the Quaffle, no, one of the Irish guys had it, no, now he was watching a Bludger, oh wait, Quigley just got hit by one, hold on-

A faint buzzing sound sounded next to his ear.  _ Darn mosquitos. _ He flicked his ear irritably, hoping to ward the bug off, but if anything the buzzing grew louder. He glanced to the side in annoyance, about to swat his hand, but his eyes widened and he caught sight of a golden sheen in the corner of his eyes. He slowly reached for the snitch, suddenly striking his hand out like a snake. He held the fluttering orb in his hands for a minute, smiling as it beat its wings against his hand, then released it back into the match. The score had rapidly changed on the board by the time he looked up, Ireland holding a big lead. If the twins’ prediction ended up coming true, and Viktor Krum got the Snitch, he still wouldn’t win the game for Bulgaria. Sonic whistled lowly as the team colors only seemed to blur faster.  _ I have to admit, after this I really am looking forward to racing Harry. Hey, maybe if I talk to that Krum guy he’ll agree to race me… _

Distracted, Sonic didn’t realize a Bludger was heading straight for him until it was directly in front of his face. Only the whistle of the wind gave it away, but it was still enough for Sonic’s honed reflexes to automatically move him out of the way. Unfortunately, ‘out of the way’ meant he was now hanging off of the stadium wall by only his legs.  _ I wonder if Rouge sleeps like this…  _ He thought to himself. She was a bat, wasn’t she?

He would’ve hung there longer, but he was missing the match, so he swung himself up, hooking his fingers onto the wall and performing something like a flip, so his legs were off the wall. He hung by only his fingers, but he wasn’t worried. He had been in  _ way _ more precarious positions while infiltrating Eggman’s bases. He pulled himself up and swung a leg back onto the wall, using that to clamber back into a sitting position.

By the time he maneuvered himself back into a comfortable position, the match had descended into chaos. The referee was arguing with two Bulgarians, the Veela were being told to leave the field, and the little men in the red vests were mercilessly making fun of the Bulgarian team. Sonic lounged on his side, an amused smile on his face.  _ Forget the Grand Prix, this is where the fun’s at! _

The match quickly resumed as usual, with Ireland gaining two penalties. The Quaffle was changing hands at the speed of a bullet, and even Sonic was having a harder time keeping up than before. He winced when the Irish Beater (Quigley?) hit Krum full in the face with the Bludger.  _ Ouch. _

Blood was streaming down his face and sprinkled into the grass, though the referee wasn’t paying it much mind. The Veela had morphed into harpy-like creatures and were screeching loudly, throwing fireballs at the little men in the red vests. The Mostafa had unfortunately been caught in the crossfire, as the tail-end of his broom was burning. Sonic laughed at the chaos, though he was still a bit concerned about Krum. He was still flying, even though blood seemed to be flowing endlessly from his nose, which looked to be broken seven ways from Sunday, and he surely had a concussion.

Suddenly Krum and Lynch seemed to spot something, and began hurtling towards the ground at a breakneck pace. Sonic watched with fascination, and he couldn’t help leaning forward on the wall to try and get a closer look. Yes, there it was- the golden glint gave away the Snitch, which was maybe a foot away from the ground. The Irish supporters rose like a great wave while the Bulgarians furiously cheered Krum on, waving their arms and yelling their support in Bulgarian. The two Seekers were rapidly closing in, Krum right on Lynch’s tail. Lynch reached forward, but he pulled out of his dive too late, and was sent flying through the air. Krum pulled out of his dive just in time, before lowering himself onto the group, holding up his hand victoriously. The Snitch flapped its wings slowly in his grasp.

The crown response was like nothing Sonic had ever seen before. Even when he had won the World Grand Prix, he had never heard cheers this loud. The Irish fans were screaming with delight, while some of the Bulgarian supporters were openly sobbing. The excitement of the crowd finally got to him, and he whooped loudly, finally leaving his spot on the wall to go meet up with the Weasleys. He suspected there were going to be some after party celebrations.

The trip back to the tent was spent chattering wildly about the match. Harry in particular was incredibly enthusiastic, and Sonic smiled, happy that he was finally enjoying himself so much after leaving the Dursleys.

Fred and George had won their bet with Ludo, as evidenced by their jingling pockets.

“ _ Don’t _ tell your mother you’ve been gambling, boys.” Mr. Weasley warned, though Fred and George waved him off.

“Don’t worry Dad, we’ve got big plans for this money,” Fred said gleefully. “We don’t want it confiscated.”

They became caught up in the crowds leaving the stadium, many singing jolly tunes, others raceous songs fit for a scandalous party. The sudden end to the World Cup had soured some, but many were gleefully ready to party. 

They retraced their steps back to their tents, but almost nobody felt like sleeping. Mr. Weasley agreed they could all have one last cup of cocoa before turning in. They slipped into verbal replays of the match, friendly disagreements causing non-aggressive arguing. Sonic himself told his story of catching the Snitch and nearly getting hit with the Bludger, and though many in the tent stared at him with disbelief, he knew he had Ginny hooked on every word. He found himself feeling drowsy, but there was something bothering him… Shadow! Where in the world had he gone off too?

He was going to force himself awake to go look for him, but he knew that Shadow could take care of himself, and the tent was feeling awfully cosy…

The next thing he knew, Mr. Weasley was hurriedly shaking everyone awake, frantically shouting, “Get up! Ron-Sonic-Harry come on, get up, we’ve got to get moving!”

Sonic quickly stretched and hopped to his feet. He still felt a bit tired, but he was jolted awake when a flash of green flew by the outside of the tent, followed by a scream. He dashed outside, squinting into the darkness.

By the light of the few fires that were still burning, he could see something people running away towards the woods as sounds like gunshots and brilliant flashes of green light followed them. A dark mass advanced on the horizon, loud jeers and drunken yells emanating from what he now realized to be people. Sonic squinted, but no matter how hard he strained his eyes, it seemed as though these people had no face. Up above them, spinning wildly like tops and twisted into grotesque positions, appeared to be… Sonic felt sick.  _ Those are people. _

He became aware of a tugging on his arm, but he pushed Harry back, quickly realizing what he needed to do. “Harry, go on and go. Stay with Mr. Weasley and Ron, and try to find Hermione and Ginny.  _ Don’t _ go after me, okay?”

Harry nodded, and Sonic could only hope he’d listen. He ran towards the group, feet forming his super peel-out move, and skidded rapidly to a halt right in front of the dark mass of people. He wasted no time taunting them. Rescue always came first, not to mention this wasn’t just a horde of robots. It was a mob of people, willingly participating in the torture and humiliation of others. 

He unleashed his homing attack on the first person who looked at him. There was a crunch under his shoe and he winced, but he wasn’t going to stop just because he broke a human’s nose. A glance above his head to the victims reassured him that this mob had to be stopped, even if he had to break a few bones.

He leapt from the first man to a second, delivering a swift kick to the back of this one’s head. He instantly crumpled, unconscious. Sonic repeated this attack with the next two members, then landed on the grass and spindashed the fifth. More people had been approaching the mob, hooting with joy at the humiliation of the people above them, but Sonic bristled angrily to scare them off.

“What are you doing?!” He yelled angrily. How could humans willingly do this to each other? The swollen mass of people around the mob ignored him, and a glance above spurred him back into action.

The original mob was all but diminished in the blink of an eye, and the four people began rapidly falling to the ground. Sonic used the bodies of the remaining mob members as spring pads, making sure to catch the two smaller humans, before quickly returning for the adults. He turned around quickly, protecting his back as the swollen mass of wizards started jeering at him.

“Why’d you have to ruin our fun like that!” Someone shouted.

“Killjoy! They were just Muggles!” Someone else yelled. Murmurs of agreement swept throughout the crowd, followed by the sound of a hundred wands being drawn. Sonic took a step closer to the humans, determined to protect them.

“Out of the way, out of the way!” Somebody else shouted. It was a Ministry worker. “All of you should be ashamed!” She said. A few more Ministry workers followed her, brandishing their wands at the crowd.

Suddenly a loud gasp swept throughout the mob, many people turning their heads to stare at the sky. Sonic followed their gazes, and was unable to stifle his own sound of surprise.

A giant green skull shimmered in the sky, a snake slithering wickedly out of its mouth in place of a tongue. The Ministry witch let out a loud noise of distress as screaming began to spread throughout the mob.

“It’s the Dark Lord! He’s returned!” A woman screamed. The Ministry workers were trying to calm everyone down, to no avail. The panic spread throughout the crowd that was now sticking together out of fear rather than sick enjoyment.

“E-Excuse me…” A weak voice said. Somebody behind him tapped his shoulder. He turned around to the sight of the Muggle women trying to shield her kids, looking at him pleadingly. “Can you please… take us home?”

Sonic glanced towards the Ministry witch, but she was too busy with the mob to pay any attention to them. Sonic smiled gently. “Sure. Just tell me where it is.”

Sonic carried them back to their cottage one at a time, finally setting the women down next to her husband and kids. “I don’t like to leave ya alone, but I have to go check on my friends. I’ll send someone your way, alright?”

The family’s eyes were filled with fear, and though they clearly wanted him to stay, the woman was kind enough to say, “We’ll be alright.” She paused, thin-lipped, before continuing, “Thank you for saving us.”

Sonic nodded, a reassuring smile on his face. “That’s what heroes are for.” 

He left them at the cottage door and began to search for a Ministry worker. He quickly found one, but all the wizard said was, “We don’t have time to be looking after a couple Muggles.” 

So he kept looking, until he eventually found the woman from the mob. He tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped, quite obviously frazzled, before she recognized him and relaxed. “What’s your name, Being?” She asked quickly.

“Sonic. Could you  _ please _ send one of your wizard guys to go watch the Muggles? I brought them back to their house, but I can’t look after them right now, and I think they need the protection.”

She nodded, glancing around the now nearly-empty field. “I’ll do it myself. Thank you for rescuing them; if that had gone on any longer I think they may have sustained permanent damage.”

Sonic nodded. “No problem. Thanks.” The women disapparated, and Sonic ran to the forest, the origin point of the skull that still lingered in the sky.

There was shouting a little ways off into the dark wood. Sonic followed the voices, quickly recognizing Shadow’s gruff tone, then Ron’s heavily accented one, then Harry and then Hermione’s. He skidded to a halt a beam of red light flew over his head, quickly walking into the clearing with his hands up. 

“Woah! It’s just me, guys.”

Shadow strode up to him angrily. “Where have you  _ been _ , faker?”

Sonic crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. “No, where have  _ you _ been, Shadow? I just took care of a riot while you were off sulking in the woods!”

Shadow bared his teeth and snarled, “I was  _ not _ -”

They were interrupted by the sound of about twenty firecrackers going off. Harry realized what was going on first. 

“DUCK!”

Sonic did so reflexively as an innumerable number of red flashes flew over his head. He had to close his eyes from the bright light, listening closely as the spells impacted the tree directly behind him.

“Stop, stop, STOP! That’s my son! Stop shooting!” Sonic recognized Mr. Weasley’s voice.

The Ministry workers stopped firing for a moment, before one of them said, “But the Dark Mark came from right here! It had to be them!” 

Murmurs of agreement swept through them, before Hermione pushed herself up from the ground, hands in the air. “It wasn’t us!” She said firmly.

“Oh really?” The new voice belonged to Mr. Crouch, who had a wild look in his eye. “Then tell me who did!”

Hermione’s lower lip trembled. She was clearly scared, but she pushed forward. “It came from over there.” She pointed towards the woods behind her. 

Shadow swiftly stood up, brushing dirt and leaves from his fur. He crossed his arms and stared unflinchingly at the Ministry workers. “The girl is telling the truth.”

Sonic pushed himself up as well, though he wasn’t here so he couldn’t say where the Dark Mark had originated from. One of the Ministry workers, a wizard, glanced at him, and his eyes widened in recognition. “This one can be cleared of suspicion,” he said. “He saved the Muggles and took down quite a few rioters.”

Mr. Crouch eyed him with suspicion. “He’s not clear until I say he’s clear.” He turned back towards Hermione. “How do you expect us to believe you?”

Mr. Weasley stepped forward and attempted to reason with him. “Barty, please, they’re only children! They certainly wouldn’t know how to cast the Dark Mark!”

Mr. Crouch sniffed. Sonic glared. He was absolutely sure Harry, Ron, and Hermione were telling the truth. He whispered to Shadow, “You were here. You don’t have a wand. Do you think you can provide an alibi?”

Shadow frowned. “I doubt they’d believe a ‘creature’ like me. My word will always mean less than their suspicions. I will step forward if things go too far.”

Another Ministry wizard took on Crouch. Sonic recognized him as Amos Diggory from the Portkey. “Come on Barty, we sent plenty of stunners into the woods over there. Surely if she’s telling the truth, we’ll have hit someone?”

Crouch nodded stiffly. “I suppose.”

Amos carefully walked into the woods Hermione had pointed too. “I’ve got someone!” He yelled excitedly. He dragged out…  _ Winky? _

The poor elf was completely still, glassy eyes wide open. Sonic watched in concern. “She’s not… dead, is she?” He whispered to Hermione.

“No, I...I don’t think so.” She whispered back.

“Stop talking!” A wizard shouted at them. Sonic stuck his tongue out, but Hermione looked away, quiet.

Mr. Crouch was looking on in total shock. “W-Winky?” He said faintly. 

The Ministry wizards began to interrogate Winky. The poor elf was terrified out of her wits. She sobbed with fear as Amos continued to question her while Crouch looked on apathetically the whole time. Sonic bit his lip.  _ This isn’t right.  _ It would be different if Winky had pledged herself to a good master, but the way Crouch was treating her right now, not even defending anything she said, left a sour taste in his mouth. At the end of the interrogation, Crouch even went so far as to  _ disown his own elf  _ just because she had fled and been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Mr. Weasley pulled the group away from the scene, though Hermione was reluctant to go. 

“That was terrible! She had to disobey the rules because she was scared for her life! Mr. Crouch and Mr. Diggory were so inconsiderate! She must have been so scared, and then Mr. Crouch punishes her for it! It’s despicable, I say…”

Sonic privately agreed, though there really wasn’t much he could do. Winky was being set free, right? But she had been sobbing at the thought. It made him uncomfortable to think about the possibility that he hadn’t always done the right thing by fighting for freedom on his home planet. But no, that was silly… there was a difference between Eggman’s forcible subjugation and the willing servitude of the creatures of this world. Sighing, he put it out of mind for now, eager to go for a run. Shadow, who was walking next to him, raised an eyebrow and asked, “Something on your mind?”

Sonic glanced towards him, then looked back to the woods. “...Nothing important.”

Shadow remained silent. They finally reached the campsite, the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione crawling inside their respective tents. Sonic stretched, preparing for his run, then remembered something he had wanted to ask Shadow. 

“Where were you during the riots?” He asked curiously.

Shadow huffed. “None of your business, faker.” He had been sleeping in the woods, only awakening when he heard the humans stumbling around under the tree he was in. He was fairly embarrassed he had slept through most of the riot, but that was probably only due to his body attempting to conserve chaos energy in this world.

Sonic chuckled tiredly. “Whatever you say, Shads.”

Sonic ran to get his mind off of all the questions pinging around in his head. With the wind howling in his ears, it was almost enough to pretend he was back home, with no concerns other than where to get his next chili dog. He hoped Tails and the others were doing well. He came upon the cottage that belonged to the Muggles, and resisted the urge to stop by and check in. He was glad he was able to rescue them, but the fact that people had been cheering on the sickos who were torturing them… Maybe this world isn’t quite what I thought it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens. We've finally reached the end of the World Cup and will soon be on our way to Hogwarts! We had some important developments this chapter. Hope my actions scenes weren't too boring! It's my first time writing any, so they're probably not super exciting. Anyways, hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Next Chapter: The return to the Burrow and the Hogwarts Express


	8. Mischief at the Ministry

Mr. Weasley woke them after only a few hours of sleep. Harry groaned, but groggily complied, turning over and shaking Ron awake. 

“Time to go, boys.” Mr. Weasley whispered.

Harry pushed his way out of the tent, squinting as the early morning sunlight hit his face. Ron followed after him, Hermione and Ginny crawling out of their own tent a few minutes later. Harry and Hermione collapsed the tents, though Harry was uncomfortably stiff and his brain seemed to be filled with fog from the lack of sleep.

“I think that’s everything.” He told Mr. Weasley. Mr. Weasley nodded, double-checking the campsite. A frown came over his face. “Where is Sonic? And Shadow?”

Harry didn’t know. Sonic had disappeared last night, and though he had seen Shadow before he went to bed, he hadn’t yet spotted him this morning. He bit his lip. Didn’t they say they had something to do after the Cup? Though he couldn’t deny he felt disappointed, he honestly hadn’t expected the two to stick around as long as they did. Harry had greatly enjoyed spending time with Sonic, and he had been looking forward to getting to know Shadow. He scratched the back of his head. He could only hope one or both would show up before they left the campsite, presumably by Portkey once again.

The group, minus two hedgehogs, made their way back to woods they had landed in yesterday, passing by the cottage belonging to Mr. Roberts. “Merry Christmas!” The muggle had greeted dreamily. 

“Poor bloke,” Mr. Weasley said, shaking his head sadly, “Wonder how many Obliviates that took… He’ll be alright, even though that was a big event they had to make him forget.”

Harry quickly put two and two together. “Wait, you mean _he_ was one of the Muggles last night?”

Mr. Weasley nodded. Harry glanced one more time towards Mr. Roberts. Though he felt sympathetic, he truly wasn’t sure if Obliviating him was the right thing to do. Was it right to forcibly make someone forget what was probably the most traumatic moment of their life?

Harry didn’t want to think about such things right now, and forced himself to turn his thoughts to brighter subjects. He thought of Viktor Krum’s spectacular dive, and the Veela, and the Leprechauns. He thought of Quidditch, and playing at the Quidditch World Cup with his own team and a robe embroidered with his name. That put a silly smile on his face, and the light mood lasted until they finally arrived at the woods. 

The sound of something slamming in the distance made him jump in alarm, but when he turned around and saw what it was a bright grin stole across his face. The blue blur reached them in no time, and Sonic winked at the relieved smiles most of the wizards wore. “Miss me?” He asked cheekily.

Most everybody groaned in faked annoyance, but Harry merely said, “Glad to have you back.” Sonic attempted to nod, but was interrupted by a loud yawn. He seemed surprised by the action, as though he wasn’t expecting his body to betray his tiredness. Harry laughed at his expression before turning to follow the rest of the Weasleys. Sonic languidly followed. _He really is like a cat_ , Harry thought fondly. Hermione caught sight of them trailing towards the back of the group and dropped back to talk to them, Ron promptly following. 

“Where’s Shadow?” She asked. A faint hint of concern was present in her voice.

 _That’s right, he stood up for her last night…_ Harry remembered. He had gained more respect for Shadow, who before that moment hadn’t really spoken much to any of them, acting quite aloof to everything. Hermione was probably worried that what had happened last night had caused him to leave.

“Aw, he’s fine. He went to go look for somebody though, a Ministry wizard I think, something about settin’ up an appointment…” Sonic trailed off, pausing mid-step. His eyes widened and a scowl came over his face. “No, Shadow wouldn’t…”

“Wouldn’t _what_ , Sonic?”

Harry spun around, reflexively reaching for his wand. Shadow walked calmly out of the trees, crimson eyes shining in the weak morning light. Sonic puffed out his chest, holding a finger out accusingly. “Shadow, I swear, if you went to get us registered-”

Shadow smirked. “And what if I did?”

“They’re going to put _restrictions_ on us, Shadow. _Restrictions_! As in no-you-can’t-do-what-you-want kind of restrictions!” Sonic yelled, clearly panicking at the idea of his freedom being in any way limited.

Shadow raised an eyebrow at Sonic, who was now crazily stamping his feet on the ground and throwing his hands into the air. He took a deep breath, and continued cooly, “Faker, think about this logically for a moment. If we _don’t_ get registered, they’re only going to mark us as wild beasts. Worst-case scenario, they’ll send someone to hunt us down, as far as I’ve been informed, at least. The humans in this world have the skills to stop us with nothing more than a word. They can Chaos Control without an emerald. If we cooperate, then at the very least we will be able to negotiate our own terms.” He paused, a dark look coming across his face, and added, “But if they believe they will be able to _control_ us… that will be another story entirely.”

Sonic didn’t appear entirely convinced, though he looked to be considering it at the very least. Harry swallowed and exchanged glances with Ron and Hermione, both who looked as awkward as he felt, though Hermione had a more contemplative look on her face. Luckily a call from Mr. Weasley interrupted the tense moment.

“Come on, Harry, Ron, Hermione, we don’t want to miss our return Portkey- oh, hello there Sonic, Shadow!” He said, poking his head through the trees. Sonic waved back at him, and Shadow nodded in acknowledgement. The trio ran to catch-up to the rest of the group. Bill, Charlie, and Percy had already Apparated back to the Burrow, leaving only them, Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, and Ginny. Thankfully the other three red-heads hadn’t been hurt in the crossfire of last night, having escaped safely much deeper into the woods (it had taken about half an hour to find them after everything had calmed down).

Harry was trying to catch the back end of Sonic and Shadow’s conversation. It appeared Sonic had finally agreed to Shadow’s plan, albeit _very_ reluctantly. He was complaining rather loudly about all the things he hoped the Ministry wasn’t going to make him do. _Keep talking like that and you’ll only give them ideas._ Harry snorted at the idea of Sonic being limited to only the area around a pool, something which apparently scared him quite a lot.

A loud rumbling of voices drew Harry’s attention back in front of him. The clearing that they had first arrived at was completely packed with witches and wizards, all of them clambering for the first Portkey home (some of them were apparently willing to go to even the next country over from their own). Mr. Weasley quickly spoke with the wizard in charge, who shuttled them to a Portkey that promptly dropped them at Stoatshead Hill. Harry was exhausted from the lack of sleep, and was prepared for a quiet walk back to the Burrow. 

Sonic thankfully offered to carry them again, claiming this time would be easier since it was downhill. Harry wasn’t in the mood to decline, and it appeared the rest of the party shared his opinion, sans Shadow, who was already waiting at the bottom of the hill by the time Sonic brought the first one of them down. Once they were all down, Sonic didn’t offer any more rides, and Harry knew it probably wasn’t polite to ask. He continued to walk along in silence. However, even though he knew it wasn’t polite to eavesdrop on people, he made no attempt to stop himself from listening to the hedgehog’s chatter.

“Why are you so nice to them?” He heard Shadow ask Sonic.

“Well, why not?” Sonic answered, continuing to walk calmly. “Especially after the stuff that happened last night. Most of ‘em are just kids, Shads.”

Shadow watched him, a strange look on his face. “...So are you, Sonic.”

That gave Sonic a pause, but he eventually shrugged and said no more. Harry’s mind was spinning on its wheels, though his exhaustion made it work more slowly than usual. _Sonic is only a kid? But I thought…_ He didn’t know what he thought. Harry was sure he certainly wasn’t an adult, but the way he carried himself sometimes, with utmost confidence, and the way he had run off into danger last night when he saw the riot… It gave Sonic an aura of experience unfit for a teenager. Of course, Harry shouldn’t be one to talk, with everything that had happened to him during his years at Hogwarts. Speaking of… 

“Sonic, where do you go to school?” Harry asked curiously.

One of Sonic’s ears twitched and he turned around, pointing a thumb at his chest proudly. “Who, me? I don’t go to school! Don’t plan to, ‘cause I never needed it.”

Next to him, Shadow rolled his eyes. Harry stared at him, flabbergasted. He went to a magical school for witches and wizards, but still. “Er- well, do you know your maths and the like?”

Sonic sweatdropped. “Uh- Yeah! Totally!”

Shadow coughed loudly beside him. Harry decided not to pursue this line of questioning. Sonic, on the other hand, now appeared even more curious (not to mention desperate to save face). “Well, where do you go to school, Harry?”

Harry glanced around, hoping to spot Hermione. She could go on rants about Hogwarts for _hours_. “Hogwarts.”

Sonic laughed loudly. He actually doubled over, wiping a tear from his eye. Harry didn’t think it was that funny, but he supposed the name was rather ridiculous to outsiders. When nobody else was laughing, merely looking at him in alarm, Sonic coughed awkwardly and continued incredulously,

“Wait, you mean your school is actually called Hogwarts?” 

Harry nodded. Sonic scratched his head, clearly embarrassed. Shadow, suffering from second-hand humiliation, took over the conversation, asking, “So, this school...would you say it’s a large gathering place for wizards?”

Hermione finally took notice of the conversation, and a pleased look came over her face due to her ‘area of expertise’ finally becoming relevant. “Oh, it’s nothing like the Quidditch World Cup, but there are about one-thousand students there at any given time.”

Sonic and Shadow exchanged glances, clearly intrigued. Hermione launched into a tangent about magical schools, probably reciting Hogwarts: A History word-for-word. Harry was glad he didn’t have to talk anymore, and went to go suffer in silence with Ron.

They arrived at the Burrow sometime mid-morning. Mrs. Weasley came rushing out to meet them, clutching a copy of the Daily Prophet. “Oh, _Arthur_ , I was so _worried-_ ” She flung her arms around his neck. Mr. Weasley gently patted her on the back. “It’s alright Molly, we got everyone back safely.” 

She squeezed him one last time before letting go and gathering Fred and George into a tight embrace. She began to sob, and her sons awkwardly patted her on the back. “I shouted at you before you left! It’s all I’ve been thinking about! What if You-Know-Who had got you, and the last thing I ever said to you was that you didn’t get enough O.W.L.’s? Oh, _boys_!” 

“Ouch! Mum- you’re strangling us-”

“Come now, Molly, we’re all perfectly okay.” Mr. Weasley said soothingly, prising her off the twins and leading her back to the Burrow. 

“Wait, Arthur-” She said, “One moment.”

To everyone’s surprise, she kneeled down in front of Sonic and gently gathered him into a hug. Sonic was at first surprised, but he relaxed and gently hugged her back. “Thank you, Sonic, for stopping that riot and taking care of my family.”

Sonic smiled before quickly glancing to Harry, mouthing ‘help’. Harry grinned back at him but held up his hands. He wasn’t going to intervene when Mrs. Weasley was in mother mode. Sonic sighed inaudibly and turned back to Mrs. Weasley, gently prying her off. He looked her in the eyes, and said gently, “It was no problem, Mrs. W. It’s what I do.”

Mrs. Weasley nodded, though there were faint tears in her eyes. She returned to Mr. Weasley and the two headed back to the house, leading the way for the rest of the group. 

“Hey, she dropped something!” Sonic exclaimed. He reached down and grabbed the fallen copy of the Daily Prophet, reading the headline. 

“‘Scenes of Terror at the Quidditch World Cup’? I helped take care of that riot though, didn’t I?” Sonic asked in confusion.

Ron was the one to respond. “Still doesn’t stop the fact that somebody cast the Dark Mark though. People are bound to be terrified still…”

Sonic frowned and folded up the paper, though he kept ahold of it. “What’s the deal with this You-Know-Who guy anyway? Who even is he?”

“His name is Voldemort.” Harry answered. Hermione and Ron flinched. “He was the leader of the Death Eaters…” He trailed off, not wanting to go further. Hermione and Ron glanced at him in concern before Ron finally picked up where he left off. “You-Know-Who did all sorts of terrible things… Murdered Muggles and terrorized witches and wizards who weren’t half-blood or pure-blood... He nearly took over all of England. My mum and dad say it was the most terrible time in our history.”

Sonic and Shadow listened intensely, their expressions gradually getting more and more horrified and stern respectively. Shadow studied Harry, obviously impressed. “And you defeated this man while you were nothing but an infant?”

Harry nodded. There were a lot of factors at play that night, but that was technically what had happened. Shadow put a hand on his chin, obviously deep in thought. Suddenly he jerked upright, turning to Sonic. “We have to leave for registration. The man I talked to said to come in right now.”

Sonic, for once, came up with the logical argument. “But Shadow, we don’t even know where the Ministry is? Plus, are we even gonna be able to get to it with all the wizard wards and stuff?” Harry was unsure whether he was actually trying to argue with Shadow or just coming up with excuses. Regardless, it was time to head inside for a nap. Shooting meaningful glances towards Ron and Hermione he began striding towards the house. They quickly followed him.

He bumped into Mr. Weasley at the front door. He had changed into a clean set of robes and was obviously in a hurry. He smiled at Harry as he brushed past. 

“Sorry Harry, but I really must be getting to the Ministry, I’ll see you all later-”

“Wait, Mr. Weasley-” Harry interrupted, “I think that Sonic and Shadow need to go to the Ministry as well. I’m sure if you tell them where it is, they’ll meet you there fairly quickly.”

Mr. Weasey appeared to sweat nervously. “Well, if they’re quick enough, I suppose so… I really must go now though-”

Harry pointed to the two hedgehogs, who appeared to be discussing something in the distance. Mr. Weasley nodded, running towards them. They spoke briefly, and before Harry could blink there were two quickly fading blurs and a loud crack. They were gone.

He waved Ron and Hermione inside to the kitchen, where Mrs. Weasley was preparing breakfast. “I’m going to go dump my stuff in Ron’s room, I think.” Harry said loudly.

“Me too.” said Ron. 

“Yes, I think I will as well.” Hermione added.

They quickly made their way up the stairs. Harry couldn’t help sneaking a glance out the window, but Hedwig still hadn’t returned. It was hard to think only three days ago he had sent the letter out. So much had happened in that short amount of time… He watched Ron and Hermione sit down on one of the beds together, clearing his throat to get their attention. 

“There’s something I haven’t told you. On Saturday morning, I woke up with my scar hurting.” Predictably, Hermione gasped, then began reciting books he should go read or people he should talk to, ranging from Dumbledore to Madam Pomfrey. Ron merely looked dumbstruck.

“But- he wasn’t at the Cup, right? You-Know-Who? I mean- last time your scar kept hurting, he was at Hogwarts, wasn’t he?”

“I’m sure he wasn’t at Privet Drive,” said Harry. “But I was dreaming about him… him and Peter- you know, Wormtail. I can’t remember all of it now, but they were plotting to kill… someone.”

He was on the verge of saying “me”, but he couldn’t bring himself to make Hermione look anymore horrified .

“It was only a dream, though,” Ron said bracingly. “Just a nightmare.”

“Yeah, but really, was it?” Harry said. He couldn’t help the worry that clawed at his throat. “It’s weird, isn’t it?... My scar hurts, I meet this strange creature, the Death Eaters begin to march, and Voldemort’s sign is up in the sky again. It just seems… I dunno, too specific to be a coincidence.”

“Don’t-say-his-name!” Ron hissed through gritted teeth. Hermione tapped her fingers against her leg as she thought, then finally said, “Well, Sonic hasn’t done anything suspicious. If anything, he’s done the opposite. He stopped those Death Eaters, didn’t he? And he’s been nothing but kind to everybody. Shadow too, he seems like he’s a fine man- er, hedgehog, I suppose. Plus,” A fire came into her eyes, “Sonic seems to really care about House-elf rights-”

“Hermione, he’s not from here. He doesn’t know anything about house-elves. Just because he asked some questions doesn’t mean he agrees that house-elves need rights-” Ron interrupted.

“Oh, so you agree with how Mr. Crouch was treating his elf? Do you _honestly_ believe that house-elves don’t have feelings, Ronald?” Hermione said angrily.

Ron pushed himself up, red in the face, “That’s _not_ what I said, Hermione, and you know it!”

“Oh _really_? Because-”

“Enough!” Harry yelled. They both huffed and pointedly looked away from each other. He continued, talking a bit more loudly to get their attention. “The fact of the matter is that the timing is very suspicious, and no matter how much we like Sonic, we can’t write off anything.”

“Harry, d’you reckon he was maybe sent by Dumbledore?” Ron asked, eyebrows furrowed.

 _Sent by Dumbledore?_ “...Maybe.” He’d have to think about it more deeply. Sonic’s story had so far played out rather accurately, what with his friend and all the mentions of chaos control/chaos energy, but all the suspicious incidents that had occured since the day he woke with his scar hurting forced Harry to consider that perhaps it was a cover story.

“Hold on Harry, weren’t you the one who was telling us to trust Sonic when we first met him?” Hermione pointed out.

Harry bit his lip, chewing it a moment before answering. “Yes, and I still do, but I think we need to be more careful now than ever. It’s not that I think we need to distance ourselves from him, but more like just keep tabs on suspicious behaviors and the like.”

Ron jolted up, blurting out, “What about those runs he goes on? Maybe he’s meeting with Dumbledore!”

Harry nodded dumbly. _Why didn’t I think of that?_ “He’s definitely away for awhile whenever he leaves… maybe Dumbledore apparates to a meeting point and Sonic goes to speak with him?”

“Yes, but _why?_ ” stressed Hermione. “Not to be rude, but why would Dumbledore pick someone who looks like, well, _that?_ Surely he could have picked someone more subtle?”

Ron shrugged. “Maybe he wanted someone to keep an eye on Harry? Or protect him?” He glanced towards Harry. “Not to be rude mate, but we’re certainly not the most qualified.”

Harry sighed, folding his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling. “We’re not going to know unless we ask Sonic directly, and who knows if he’ll tell the truth?”

“Still, it’s worth a shot, isn’t it?” Ron said.

“I suppose.” Harry responded tiredly. _It’s as though the conspiracies never stop._

“Breakfast is ready!” Mrs. Weasley called from downstairs. Harry hefted himself off the bed. Ron punched him gently on the shoulder. “You up for a three-on-three Quidditch match?”

Hermione glared at him with a don’t-be-insensitive kind of look, but Harry ignored her and said, “Let’s do it.”

It was time for happier things.

* * *

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Sonic asked, examining the map the Ministry had provided at the front desk. Besides the map, they had also offered them refreshments and nametags, though the badges only read their species, rather than their names. Another instance of wizard racism.

Shadow grunted noncommittally. He honestly would rather be doing anything else, but he felt sure that if they were to get anywhere in this world they most definitely did not need the Ministry on their tail. Despite Sonic’s feelings on the matter, it was an unfortunately necessary step. Shadow had lived on the Ark and worked for GUN for a time. He knew how these types of governments worked.

“Shads…” Sonic whined loudly, causing some passing Ministry workers to look at them oddly. 

“Shut _up_ , faker.” Shadow hissed, throwing a particularly nasty look towards a wizard who was watching them with obvious contempt. He stuck his leg out at the last moment, tripping the man so his robes flew up. A smirk quickly flew over his face, disappearing just as rapidly. Sonic laughed loudly behind him before catching up to walk side-by-side. He stuck his tongue out at the angry man behind them and Shadow sighed in exasperation. Glancing to the doors around him, he finally spotted the one that they needed.

“We’re here,” He said to Sonic. Sonic stopped his childish teasing and gulped, looking at the door apprehensively. 

“Don’t faint, Faker.” Shadow teased.

“Yeah right!” Sonic huffed, a pout coming over his face. He gulped and seemed to be stealing himself. Shadow glanced up and read the shiny placard hanging on the oak door:

 **_Mathilda Grimblehawk;_ ** **Magizoologist Extraordinaire; Winner of the 1986 Strangest Creature Award**

Shadow pushed his way inside. A brown-haired, brown-eyed witch was sitting at the only desk in the office, sorting through stacks of paperwork. She was presumably Grimblehawk. All around her were creatures in small kennels and cages, ranging from a small pink bubble gum like thing, no bigger than Shadow’s nose, to a purple long-haired dog longer than his entire body, to a seemingly empty cage standing in the corner. Sonic followed him in, for once completely silent. Once the witch caught sight of them, she excitedly stood up from her desk, spilling ink all over the papers she had been working on. 

“Oh, silly me!” She said cheerfully, making the mess disappear with a wave of her wand. Shadow wondered where it went. Was there some sort of wizard pocket dimension? Did she teleport it for someone else to clean? He had many questions, and not enough answers. 

Grimblehawk bustled over, her long scarf trailing on the ground behind her. She eagerly extended her ink-stained hand to them. Shadow reluctantly shook it and Sonic followed suit in a much more amiable manner. She turned around, picked her scarf up off the ground, and sat down behind her desk, clasping her hands together and leaning forward with obvious enthusiasm. “What can I help you with today?”

Shadow pulled over a human-sized chair and sat in it, saying gruffly, “We’re here to get registered.” Sonic copied him and sat down, lounging boredly in his chair, even going so far as to hang his legs over the armrest.

“Oh!” Grimblehawk perked up. She scooted her chair out, got onto her hands and knees and began searching under her desk. Shadow exchanged glances with Sonic, who shrugged, looking at him helplessly. After a minute or two she reemerged and placed what were hopefully the correct papers on the desk in front of her. With another wave of her wand, a new quill and ink bottle appeared. She dabbed the quill into the ink and asked brightly, “So, can you describe to me your species?”

“...Mobian.” Shadow said. He didn’t want to say hedgehog, because it seemed this world already had a species called that. They were quite different from what Shadow had been expecting. Of course, he would’ve called himself the Ultimate Lifeform, but apparently they didn’t _have_ that on this world. _Their loss,_ he thought sourly.

“Mm-hm. Can you describe any particular species characteristics that separate you from other similar species?”

“Human intelligence. Lots of it.” Sonic answered testily. Shadow rolled his eyes. _Certainly not with that kind of language._

“Mobians are not humans with animal characteristics, but animals who have human characteristics.” Shadow answered. It was straight from one of Professor Gerald’s textbooks. “Some Mobians also have a particularly high affinity for chaos energy, which can grant special abilities.” 

Grimblehawk glanced up from her writing, obviously confused. “Chaos energy?”

“It is the energy of life. I believe you humans here call it ‘magic’.” Shadow said. Sonic added, “Chaos is power, enriched by the heart.” Shadow nearly chuckled. _Really Faker, straight from the Guardian?_

“Interesting!” Grimblehawk said, eyes wide with curiosity. “Tell me more! I’ll put this under a subsection.”

Sonic, who was beginning to ease up a bit, launched into an explanation about the Chaos Emeralds, unnecessarily adding the Master Emerald. _I suppose there’s no reason to guard the existence of it. After all, it doesn’t exist in this world. I hope._

Grimblehawk was on the edge of her seat, hand scribbling faster than Shadow had ever seen a human’s go. _Speaking of, I wonder why she isn’t typing any of this? Perhaps magic and technology do not mesh well._ She suddenly burst out of her seat, squealing with joy. Sonic stopped mid-sentence while she spun around in a circle.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” She cried, “It’s just that learning about a new species has me so excited! Magizoology is so _fascinating_ , don’t you think?”

Sonic blinked. Shadow did the same. _Wizards are strange._

She finally regained focus and sat down in her seat, brushing imaginary dust off her robes and scarf. “So… let’s see what we have left… How many of you are there?”

“Well, uh, we’re the only ones here.” Sonic replied, grinning uncomfortably. Her eyes widened in surprise and she began to tap her quill against the paper, heedless of the ink splotches it formed. “Really? How are you two going to reproduce? Are you perhaps like the flobberworm, who changes biology in order too-”

“Nope! None of that!” Sonic said, turning bright red. Shadow sensed an opportunity.

“Actually, blue-colored Mobians can-” 

“HE’S LYING!” Sonic yelled, attempting to leap out of his chair and cover Shadow’s mouth. Shadow pushed him off onto the floor, smirking smugly and watching Sonic growl from the corner of his eye. Sonic’s growl cutoff midway and his mouth curled into a mischievous grin. “Well, as it turns out, black-colored Mobians can-”

Shadow was not going to let him finish that sentence. He jumped out of his chair, attempting to land a kick on Sonic, but Sonic only stuck his tongue out and jumped on top of one of the tallest cages in the room. Shadow’s teeth glinted and with a yell he hurled himself towards the cage. Sonic tried to run before he got there, but Shadow managed to snag his leg. However, Sonic somehow managed to plant his other sneaker on his face, and they both fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Shadow managed to get on top and was attempting to pin Sonic down when he was immobilized by a stunner spell. 

_Damn! I should’ve been paying attention to her! I left myself open-_ Grimblehawk calmly walked over, picked each one of them up with seemingly little effort, and placed them back into their chairs. _Wait, she’s not attacking us?_

Grimblehawk sat down behind her desk and began reading over her form. Finally she said, “As much as I enjoy learning about new creatures, I will not permit you to disturb the creatures in my office. Please, and thank you.”

The stunner spell finally wore off, and Shadow rolled his shoulder once, twice, before crossing his arms. He shot a glare at the faker, who was doing the same to him. Grimblehawk pointedly cleared her throat and said, “This’ll be the last one on the list. These questions will help the Ministry determine where your habitat-” Sonic and Shadow cringed, “will be, and where you will be allowed to roam, as well as your danger ranking. Now, I believe this is implicitly understood, but you do know you are not allowed to interact with Muggles, correct?”

At this Sonic opened his mouth to respond, but Shadow roughly elbowed him to shut him up. “Yes, we are fully aware.”

Grimblehawk nodded and folded up the paper. She placed it in an envelope, waved her wand, and to both Sonic and Shadow’s amazement it speedily flew away out the cracked-open door. 

“You can go now- Oh! Could you please wait a moment? I believe he might actually be in today!” She bustled out of the office, impossibly long scarf trailing behind her. 

“Yes, you! Get in here, Newt!” They heard her call outside.

She pushed the door open, dragging a freckled young man inside. He wore a thread-bare teal coat with loose beige pants, and his hair was messily splayed out, pieces sticking up here and there. When he entered the office and caught sight of Sonic and Shadow, his eyes widened with wonder, and he carefully lowered himself to the ground. 

“Hello there…” He said gently. 

Sonic leapt down from his seat and strode forward, hand already extended. “Hey to you too! Pleased to meetcha’! My name is Sonic, and speed’s my game! What’s yours?”

“Name or game?” The wizard said faintly.

“Name, of course. You can tell me your game too though, if ya want.” 

The man cleared his throat. “My n-name is Newt Scamander. I’m a Magizoologist, of the Beast Division.”

Sonic smiled brightly. “Cool!” He glanced behind his shoulder towards Shadow. “C’mon Shads, introduce yourself!”

Shadow hopped down from his chair and extended his hand. Newt took it, still seemingly surprised, though his look hadn’t hardened any. “My name is Shadow the Hedgehog, Ultimate Lifeform.” Though it had little to no meaning in this world, he still prided himself on it, and most definitely took chances to show off. 

“Newt Scamander.” Newt said. Though his face was soft and boyish, his grip was firm and calloused, betraying his many years of experience. He stood up, glancing toward Grimblehawk.

“I-I really must go now, but thank you very much for introducing me. It was nice to meet you!” He added to Sonic and Shadow. Sonic shot him a grin and flashed a thumbs-up while Shadow merely nodded. Newt exited the room quickly though they could hear him mumbling quietly to himself in the hallway as he left.

Grimblehawk pushed the door open and held it for them, smiling cheekily. “Okay, now you can go. The Ministry will update you as soon as it can, hopefully as soon as this whole World Cup mess is over. Oh no, hold on!”

She ran over to her desk while they waited. Shadow sighed and Sonic began tapping his foot, arms crossed. When she returned she was holding a pair of tweezers. _You’ve got to be kidding me._

“Can I please please please take a sample?” She pleaded, eyes failing to accurately imitate a puppy.

“No.”

“One sec.” Sonic shook his head side to side wildly and smiled. 

“Got one!” He reached a hand behind his head, pulling out a dead quill. It appeared to be just as vibrant and sharp as the rest of them, but it had become detached and thus wouldn’t hurt to pull out. He handed it to Grimblehawk, who began to squeal. She held it close to her chest. “Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU! I’ll treasure it forever!” She yelled.

Sonic smiled awkwardly. “Uh… no problem?”

He slowly backed away from the crazed women. Shadow was already waiting by the door. They strolled out the door into the Ministry hallway. Shadow immediately peeled his badge off, wincing as it ripped some of his white fur off, the sticky side acting as an unwanted primitive waxing strip.. Sonic followed suit, though he didn’t have it as bad since his fur was already a bit shorter. They deposited the fur-covered badges in the nearest disposal bin and continued walking. Sonic eventually asked, “Do you think Mr. Weasley would want us to wait for him?”

“I doubt it,” Shadow responded. “Our appointment took only about an hour. He’s expected to stay here until this mess gets sorted out, which could be anywhere from half a day to until midnight.” He raised an eyebrow at Sonic. “And I know for a fact that you would be unwilling to wait that long for anybody, no matter how fond you are of them.”

Sonic chuckled. “Got me there! Though,” he added, “It’s pretty messed up that whole incident even happened in the first place. Guess some wizards are pretty racist, huh?”

Shadow snorted callously. “It took you this long to figure that out? Sonic, I don’t doubt that if you or I got hurt they wouldn’t even attempt to help. They only aided the Muggles during that riot because it would be a threat to their society if the society of non-wizards found out about them. You should take most of whatever they do with a grain of salt, no matter how friendly they may appear at first.”

Sonic hummed in acknowledgement, a frown on his face, before he jolted out of his slouch and began to search in his quills for something. Shadow watched in confusion until he pulled out the newspaper Mrs. Weasley had dropped. 

“Ah.”

“Yeah.” Sonic flipped it around (it had gotten rather jumbled in his quills) and found the front page. He began reading the article, effortlessly avoiding the Ministry workers weaving busily around him. 

“The Quidditch World Cup, known around the world as the largest gathering of wizards excluding the annual International Confederation of Wizards, came under terrible attack last night. Death Eaters interrupted the afterparty, victimizing four Muggles by levitating them over sixty feet above the ground. Thankfully a blue blur came by and began attacking the members of the mob, causing three of the five members of the original mob to end up in St. Mungo’s, trapped in deep comas.” Sonic paused reading, scrunching his brows. “Wait, what?! I only knocked them unconscious! There’s no way any of them ended up in a coma!”

“Keep reading.” Shadow said. _This is troubling. If we’re already being portrayed negatively by the media, then all of this registration bullshit may have been for nothing._

Sonic cleared his throat, looking troubled, and continued. “According to witnesses, the blue blur failed to rescue the Muggle victims because he let them drop-? No way! This article is crap!”

“Keep reading.” Shadow repeated gruffly, now leaning against the wall. He began to drum his fingers on his arm as he considered all the possible reasons this article was written in such a negative light. _Does someone have it out for him already?_

Sonic glanced at him, finishing the article with, “Later that night, the Dark Mark was seen in the sky over the nearby woods. Ministry witnesses say there were several suspicious persons on the scene, including Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter himself, along with what seemed to be a large black creature. They were cleared of suspicion, though some still harbour doubts. Several bodies were removed from the woods following the incident- No! There wasn’t!” A look from Shadow urged Sonic to finish. He sighed, ending by reading, “The Ministry urges caution for all future wizard gatherings, and to be on the lookout for strangely colored animals and Death Eaters. Written by Rita Skeeter.” Sonic balled up the paper and launched it into the trash. Shadow rubbed his temples. 

“The article doesn’t matter for now, but we need to watch out for future writings by this woman. Thank you,” He added to Sonic. Sonic stared at him in shock for a moment before a bright grin spread over his face. 

“You’re welcome, Shads!” He said cheerily.

“Hmph.” 

They exited the Ministry. Sonic swiped a drink from the entrance to the Ministry and followed Shadow outside. 

“Ah, the great outdoors!” He said, in the middle of a busy city block. They were still within the Muggle protection charms of the Ministry. Sonic glanced at him, smirking. “Up for a race back to the Burrow, Shads?”

Shadow grunted and dropped into starting position.

“Okay, three, two, one- HEY!” 

Sonic stamped his foot before chasing after him. He easily caught up. “Really Shads? Ya had to cheat to beat me?”

“Oh, so you’re admitting you’re already beaten?”

“No way! Eat my dust!”

A mysterious wind swept through London, though no Muggle or wizard would ever be able to pinpoint why, seeing as the hedgehogs were quite invisible while traveling at the speed of sound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! We finally got all the Ministry drama out of the way! Looks like Harry and gang are getting a little suspicious though... This chapter ended up getting way out of hand and I covered much less than I wanted to, but at least Sonic and Shadow no longer have to worry about the Ministry breathing down their necks. Or do they? Who knows? I sure don't. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Writing the banter between these two is really fun, but I'm trying hard to keep them in character. As always, comment any grievances, anything you liked, etc. Set-up time is over as we finally board the Hogwarts Express and make our way to the castle itself.


	9. Train rides and Tournaments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sonic and Shadow finally make their way to Hogwarts, after a useless week of searching for the emerald in the Muggle countryside. What awaits them there is nothing but surprises and excitement. It's been a long wait, but ladies, gentlemen, and others, welcome to Hogwarts at last!

The week spent at the Burrow passed in a blur for Sonic. Of course, for most of it he wasn’t actually there, instead exploring the world and looking for the Chaos Emerald on the off chance it  _ wasn’t _ with the wizards. He hadn’t had much luck. He and Shadow had split up to try and maximize ground covered, hitchhiking on planes crossing the nearby sea to reach the mainland. He had taken a massive land area named ‘Europe’ while Shadow had traveled farther east, to a place called Asia. Sonic had no idea how far he had gotten, but he himself managed to comb through most of west and east Europe. He was reluctant to travel farther north into ‘Russia’, due to the surprisingly cold temperatures and harsh conditions he wasn’t quite ready to brave. 

He had come across some beautiful spots during his travels, and would fully admit to taking an hour or two to lounge around each. Sonic wasn’t normally one for artitecture, but the buildings in places like Italy, France, and Spain were just begging to be admired, not to mention run on. He was filled with a sad sort of nostalgia, remembering all of his travels with Chip (though he was rather happy to  _ not _ be a Werehog this time). Despite seeing so many incredible buildings and countries, he couldn’t help but compare them to the ones back home, leading to the smug conclusion his world still had  _ something _ on this magical one (besides Chili Dogs, obviously).

On the sixth day he returned to the Burrow. Shadow was still out, though he would probably be back by tonight since they had decided to meet back at the Burrow if they found nothing in five days. Sonic yawned and stretched lazily. He hadn’t slept since he left besides for some naps here and there, and he was feeling  _ beat _ . He trekked inside, greeting Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen. 

“There you are, Sonic!” She said cheerfully. “Where have you been?”

“Ah, it doesn’t matter. I was just doing some exploring.” He sniffed the air, mouth watering instantly when he realized what she was cooking. “Are ya makin’ chili dogs?” He asked hopefully.

Mrs. Weasley didn’t look up from her cooking, flicking her wand to and fro as she directed the pots and pans. Sonic could still see the smile on her face as she answered, “In fact, I am. I found a recipe, and since you like them so much and this is your last night here, I thought I’d go ahead and try to make some.”

“Wait, last night here?” asked Sonic in confusion.

“Well, you and your friend are going to go to Hogwarts with the children, aren’t you?” 

Sonic put his hand on his chin, considering. It was true he had discussed the possibility of going with Shadow so they could investigate the school, but at the same time… it was school. If they did end up going, he  _ prayed _ he wouldn’t be forced to enroll. “I mean, it makes sense for us to go…” It would certainly give them a chance to test out Shadow’s wizard-chaos energy theory. “I’ll talk to him about it tonight, but for now you can count us in!”

Mrs. Weasley smiled, continuing to cook those  _ very _ nice smelling chili dogs.. “Excellent. Now, I think the other boys are upstairs… Oh, that reminds me!” 

She abandoned the cookware (which continued to stir itself anyway) and began searching around the table for something. “Aha!” Mrs. Weasley crouched down and grabbed a package. She handed it to Sonic before she went back to busying herself with dinner. “Be a dear and bring those robes up to them, would you? Call me up when they’ve put them on.”

Sonic nodded before quickly remembering she couldn’t see it. “Sure thing, Mrs. W!”

He was up the stairs in no time flat, rapidly knocking on the door to (what he hoped) was Ron’s room. “Hey, it’s me!” He called.

A bewildered looking Harry opened the door. “Sonic? Where’ve you been?”

“Out.” Sonic quickly entered and shut the door behind him with a foot, strolling in to dump the packages onto one of the beds. “Mrs. W wanted me to bring these up to you.”

Ron was sitting on the other bed and groaned loudly after he reached over and tore open one of the parcels. “Oh, no!”

“What?” Harry asked in confusion, making a grab for his and ripping open the paper as well. Sonic jumped onto the bed currently unoccupied, taking notice of the half-packed trunks filled with school supplies, clothing, cauldrons, and what appeared to be potion bottles. He studied them curiously, only tearing his eyes away when Ron made a loud noise of disgust.

“You’ve  _ got  _ to be kidding me!”

Sonic couldn’t stop himself from bursting out in laughter at the long, lacy, seemingly moldy maroon dress. Ron held by the tips of his fingers. _ That has to be the ugliest dress I’ve ever seen! _

A round of knocking sounded on the door; Harry opened it, and Mrs. Weasley bustled in with two armfuls of fresh laundry. She unknowingly dumped it on Sonic, who was too caught up in his laughter to dodge in time. He quickly poked his head out, and Mrs. Weasley patted it fondly. “Sorry dear, didn’t see you there.”

He might have complained more but she had accidently scratched behind his ears, causing him to relax and fall back into the laundry pile, a lazy smile on his face. She began to sort through the piles of laundry while Ron held out the dress to her as though offended by its very existence. “Mum, look here, you’ve given me Ginny’s new dress!”

“Of course I haven’t, that’s for you.” said Mrs. Weasley. “Dress robes.” Ron’s mouth was imitating a goldfish, opening and closing, searching for the right words to describe his disdain.

“ _ What? _ ” He finally blurted.

“Dress robes!” repeated Mrs. Weasley. “It said on your school list that you’re supposed to have formal robes this year.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.” said Ron, a red flush coming over his cheeks. “I’m not wearing that, no way.”

“Everyone wears them, Ron!” said Mrs. Weasley crossly. “They’re all like that! Your father has some smart ones for formal parties.”

“Aw, c’mon Ron, it’s not so bad!” Sonic chirped, reminded of his own early adventures. “I used to have to crossdress a lot too, when I was younger.”

If anything, this made Ron blush even more furiously. Harry winced at the mental image of Sonic dressed like Aunt Petunia, instantly cursing himself for even thinking of such a terrible thing. Mrs. Weasley was attempting to pay the statement no mind, simply going back to folding the laundry. Sonic snickered loudly at their expressions, teasing, “Compared to some of the disguises I’ve worn, that actually looks pretty tame!”

Ron sighed loudly, frowning at the maroon dress miserably. He reluctantly began to fold it up, though Mrs. Weasley snatched it with a hissed, “Let me do that!” She glanced towards Harry, cross expression softening some. “Harry dear, go ahead and open yours.”

Harry held his breath as he finished tearing off the wrapping paper.  _ Please don’t let it be like Ron’s, Please don’t let it be like Ron’s _ ... 

He was pleasantly surprised to find his dress robes were fairly similar to his school robes, besides the fact they were a bright shade of bottle green. 

“I thought they would look nice with your eyes,” said Mrs. Weasley fondly. 

Ron whirled on Mrs. Weasley, clearly miffed. “Those are okay! Why couldn’t I have something like that?”

“Because… well, I had to get yours secondhand, and there wasn’t a lot of choice!” said Mrs. Weasley, flushing. She handed Ron the dress and he stuffed it away in his trunk, grumbling. 

Personally, Sonic could remember when he’d had to dress in  _ way _ crazier outfits, though he wouldn’t wish that on anybody. He shivered. Thank Chaos those days were far, far, behind him. Those had been some of the most embarrassing moments of his life, looking back on it. He glanced towards Ron, frowning. The poor kid seemed upset, and Sonic couldn’t blame him. He wouldn’t want to wear that ugly old thing to anywhere with a bunch of stiffs either. He began to tap his foot against the air and drummed his fingers against the bed, trying to figure out a way to help the poor kid out.

A loud  **SLAM** from downstairs drew his attention away from his thoughts. That must be Shadow. He could already sense the lack of chaos energy in the air, meaning Shadow had also been unsuccessful in finding an emerald.  _ I swear, those things have a mind of their own. If they don’t want to be found, they’re not gonna be found, easy as that. _

He dashed down the stairs, two at a time, nearly running into Shadow when he finally made it to the bottom. A shake of Shadow’s head confirmed his suspicions. He sighed, scratching his head.  _ Guess we’re going to Hogwarts. _

XXXX

A short discussion with Shadow after dinner revealed he had been thinking the same thing.

“I don’t believe we’re going to be very successful if we don’t go with these wizards.” Shadow had said. “They clearly have a distinct form of chaos energy, which besides being something I want to look at more closely, also means the emerald will probably be drawn to them.”

Sonic nodded in agreement. “Yeah, plus, since it dropped us here, that means that it’ll probably end up showing up somewhere close. I’m pretty sure Hogwarts is the biggest magical beacon besides the Ministry of Magic in this whole country. Either way, we’ll hear about it if a weird gem shows up, no matter where we are.”

Shadow concurred, and thus it was decided they would go to Hogwarts. They told Mr. and Mrs. Weasley about the decision. The couple seemed pleased, but not surprised. “We’ll take you to the Hogwarts Express tomorrow then, alright?” said Mrs. Weasley kindly.

“Sounds good!” Sonic said cheerily. Shadow rolled his eyes at his excessive cheerfulness, but quietly added, “Thank you.” 

Mr. Weasley assured them it was no problem, and they left in good spirits. While climbing the stairs Sonic began thinking of all the things to look forward to tomorrow. He turned to Shadow, grinning, and asked in a teasing lilt, 

“So Shads, are ya excited to visit a school of magic?”

Shadow eyed him curiously. “I won’t deny I’m interested… and you?”

“Oh, definitely. I really hope we don’t have to sit through a buncha boring classes though…” Sonic said, crossing his arms behind his head.

“I doubt it. We will be there on strictly business. If searching for the emerald there isn’t productive, then we will simply leave.” 

“Aw, that’s boring. I might want to stay awhile, meet some people, see some more magic…” mused Sonic.

Shadow raised an eyebrow. “No, you won’t. Because if we aren’t successful at this school, you’ll be with me, looking for the emerald. Don’t forget, this whole mess is your fault in the first place.”

“And yours,” added Sonic.

Shadow grunted indignantly. “Actually, you were the one who stole _my_ emerald, so technically it’s completely your fault.”

Sonic crossed his arms. “Hey, you can’t blame all of it on me! You Chaos Controlled too-”

“Um-” A polite voice interrupted. It was Ginny. “Could you please move? I need to go downstairs.”

Sonic smiled awkwardly and sidestepped to the wall, allowing her through. They had blocked the stairs while bickering, causing a minor roadblock. Following Ginny was Bill, Fred, and George, the latter two shooting Sonic and Shadow mocking looks and kissy faces. Sonic’s face turned red while Shadow merely shut his eyes and pretended he was anywhere else. Once they passed, Sonic spoke up quietly.

“Shadow, I don’t understand why you’re still mad about this. It kinda feels like we’ve been over this a lot but… If it helps, I, uh, want to say I’m sorry for dragging you into this. Okay?” Sonic smiled nervously. He hoped that apology was good enough, because he wasn’t sure he had it in him to make another. Admitting you may have been in the wrong was hard.

Shadow stared at him a moment. “Fine. That’s all I wanted.” He paused, “Thank you.”

Sonic’s smile became a little more genuine. Shadow knew a small smile of his own was growing, so he turned away and said, “We have a fairly solid plan right now. The best thing we can do is wait for tomorrow.”

“Yeah. Well, see ya tomorrow, Shads.”

Shadow nodded, and Sonic raced up the stairs. The smile stayed on his face.  _ Everyday it seems I find you a little less insufferable _ , Shadow thought to himself.

That was the best Sonic was going to get, at least for now.

* * *

King’s Cross Station was, in all honesty, boring. Mr. Weasley had cast a ‘Disillusionment Charm’ on he and Shadow so the Muggles wouldn’t notice them. 

“Will a Muggle train take us to Hogwarts?” Sonic asked in confusion.

It was Hermione who answered, “No, of course not. We’ll be taking the Hogwarts Express.”

Hogwarts Express? “Where is it?” He asked curiously, looking around.

“It’s on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. It’s bright red, you can’t miss it.” Ron informed him.

“Ah, sounds cool!” Sonic dashed to the nearest vantage point in the station, which just so happened to be the rafters. The wizards looked up in exasperation at his antics, quickly returning to walking to avoid arousing the suspicion of the Muggles in the station. Shadow paid him no mind and continued with the rest of the group. Sonic followed them from the ceiling, dropping down onto Ron’s shoulders once the rafter beams ran out.

“Oof- Blimey Sonic, you’re heavier than you look!”

“Don’t tell that to your girlfriend!” Sonic chided jokingly.

Ron and Harry laughed (though Hermione didn’t), and Sonic continued, “But anyway, where’s that train you mentioned? I didn’t see it.”

It was Mr. Weasley who answered this time. “You probably wouldn’t. Platform Nine and Three-Quarters is enchanted. We’re actually arriving right about… now.” They stopped in front of a blank brick wall.

Sonic exchanged glances with Shadow.  _ This is probably some fancy wizard trick. _

“Alright, Harry, you first.”

To the surprise of both Sonic and Shadow, Harry walked straight through the wall. Sonic blinked, checking his vision. Harry was gone. A wide grin swept across his face.  _ Oh man, this world is the gift that just keeps on giving! _

Sonic dismounted from Ron’s shoulders. He couldn’t resist showing off and doing a quick flip on the way down, earning a slow applause from Bill, Charlie, Fred and George. He smirked, stretched, then ran in place for a minute to build up speed. He shot off with a whoop straight towards the brick wall, and to his amazement (and thankfulness) went straight through. He hopped excitedly in place and began to giddily dash around and investigate the steam engine and scattered Hogwarts students preparing to board. 

He paused his explorations to watch the rest of the Weasleys come through, followed by Hermione. He was about to go rejoin them when someone spoke up behind him.

“Oh, hello there.” The dreamy voice said.

He turned around to see a blonde-haired girl with a… well, dreamy expression on her face. She wore strange earrings and had a few bracelets on her pale wrists, but otherwise she was just like every other student at the station.

“Hey!” He happily greeted.

She watched him for a moment before her eyes lit up with interest. “You’re not like the others… You’ll believe me about the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, won’t you?”

Sonic had no idea what she was talking about. “Ah, um- Sure?”

She opened her mouth, possibly to explain what she meant, but Mr. Weasley interrupted, calling Sonic back over to their group. He took a few steps back, but smiled kindly at the girl who now seemed a bit saddened at his sudden departure. “Well, I’ll see ya around! Hopefully we’ll run into each other this year!”

“Yes, I hope so as well.” She said disappointedly.

Sonic kind of felt bad about leaving her by herself, but he ran back to the Weasleys nonetheless, hearing the tail-end of whatever Charlie had been saying. 

“... so I think I’ll be seeing you all sooner than you think!” Charlie finished with a wink. Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged glances, but Sonic ignored the comment for now in favor of following Mr. Weasley, who was beckoning him and Shadow to an emptier part of the station. He crouched down to be eye level with them, staring seriously. “Now, I know you two are probably more than capable of handling yourselves, but be careful while you’re at Hogwarts, alright? There have been many strange happenings already…” He trailed off with a frown.

“Aw, you don’t have to worry Mr. W. We’ll be good.” Sonic smiled cheekily.

Mr. Weasley nodded, but he had something else to say. “When you get there, ask to speak with Headmaster Dumbledore. I’m sure he’ll aid you with,” he glanced around suspiciously, “your search. I’ll alert him to your arriving, though I’m sure he already knows.”

Shadow nodded and the whistle sounded on the Hogwarts Express. Mr. Weasley stood up and clutched his hat. “Well, good luck boys.” He walked over to his children to say his final goodbyes.

Sonic and Shadow boarded the train and began looking for somewhere to sit. They received a multitude of looks from the students onboard, from jeers to awkward smiles to pure awe (mostly from the little kids). Shadow ignored them while Sonic waved as though he were on a parade float. They finally found an empty compartment halfway along the train. Harry, Ron, and Hermione joined them shortly after.

“I’m going to take a nap,” Shadow announced. “ _ Don’t _ wake me,” he shot a pointed look at Sonic, who smiled innocently. “Who, me? I would  _ never _ .”

Shadow ignored him and turned over, resting his head against the window. He was out like a light in under five seconds. Ron whistled quietly, “Bloody hell, he must have been tired.”

Sonic shrugged, “Serves him right. He probably hasn’t slept since the World Cup. He can stay awake for  _ days _ , but once he’s out, he’s out.”

Hermione stared at Shadow a moment, then glanced at Sonic in confusion. “Days? That’s not humanly possible!”

“Yeah, but he’s not a human. He’s Mr. uber-grumpy Ultimate Lifeform.” Sonic shot a mocking look at Shadow, who remained unaware of the conversation. Hermione was hanging onto his every word. “You’re really lucky he stood up for ya, Hermione. I get into lots of trouble all the time, and all he ever says is, ‘It was your own fault, Faker’. As if!”

The car chuckled, though Hermione had a faint blush on her face. Sonic noticed and grinned mischievously, though he didn’t say anything for now. He’d let Shadow work this one out for himself. 

The door to the compartment slammed open, interrupting their lighthearted conversation, and who should step inside but the snooty kid from the World Cup, much to Sonic’s  _ dis _ pleasure. “Malfoy.” Harry nearly snarled.

“Potter. Weasley. Granger.” ‘Malfoy’ spat back.

Sonic sighed loudly, drawing the kid’s attention to himself. “Can’t ya leave us in peace and go count your money or something?”

The look on Malfoy’s face was indescribable contempt. “And who’re you supposed to be?” He shot a disgusted look towards Hermione, then back to Sonic. “First Hogwarts accepts mudbloods, and now they’re taking half-breeds? This school really is going down the drain.” 

Sonic growled at the insult to both him and Hermione, but Ron was furious. “You take that back!”

Malfoy sneered, two henchmen appearing behind him. “And why should I, Weasley? Who’s going to stop me? The half-breed over there? Or maybe the one by the window, who’s got a bit of hot sauce in his eye?”

Harry stood up from his seat, glaring coldly at Malfoy and drawing his wand. Hermione copied him, standing protectively in front of the two hedgehogs. “Get out, you git. Or I’ll make you myself!”

Malfoy took a step back, gesturing to the two boys behind him. “Get the half-breed. Mudbloods are nearly intolerable themselves, but that one is just insulting.” The two boys charged forward. Sonic easily leapt over them, reluctant to fight kids, even if they were bullies. He glanced worriedly towards the window. 

Shadow had no such qualms. He calmly sat up, chilling the compartment with nothing but the coolness in his voice. “Who. The.  _ Fuck. _ ”

Sonic, the only one not affected by Shadow’s tone (either because he had heard that tone so often he was immune or because he simply had no sense of fear) pointed a thumb at Malfoy, who despite trying to put on a brave face looked like he was about ready to bolt.

“It w-wasn’t me-” He tried to say, raising his hands in a placating manner.

Shadow glared at him and clenched his fist, tightly. “Shut up. I’m going to give you  _ five seconds _ to get out of my sight.  _ Or, _ you can choose to stay, meaning your parents won’t have anyone to pass the inheritance too. Your choice.”

Shadow began the countdown. “Five.” His fist crackled with chaos energy.

Malfoy didn’t need to hear another word. He turned tail and ran, but not before spitting out, “My father will hear about this!”

Shadow watched him depart, deciding giving chase wasn’t worth the effort. He sat back down heavily, glared at Sonic (who smiled sheepishly), and put his head against the window. 

The compartment was quiet for a few moments, before everyone burst into quiet laughter. 

“That- That was-” Harry wheezed.

Ron was having a harder time keeping quiet, whispering loudly, “Brilliant!”

Hermione was giggling behind her hand while Sonic snickered in the seat next to her. “Did you see his face?” She finally breathed.

Remembering Malfoy’s terrified expression sent another round of laughter through the compartment. After a while they quieted down, and Hermione glanced towards Ron gratefully. “Thank you, Ron.”

Ron blushed to the tips of his ears. “It was nothing, Hermione.” 

The afternoon whittled away. Some students who the trio apparently knew periodically stopped in to say hi, sometimes staying a bit to discuss the World Cup. Most of them were rather interested in Sonic and Shadow, though they all kept away from the latter. Apparently the story of Malfoy’s humiliation had already spread throughout the train, much to the chagrin of Malfoy himself. Sonic happily introduced himself to everyone who came through. Neville, Seamus, and Dean were all people he was probably going to be seeing quite often.

By the time evening rolled around it had begun to rain. It was the only thing keeping Sonic from jumping out the window and running alongside the train on foot.  _ I hate water _ . Instead he tapped his foot boredly (and loudly) against the plush carpet of the train, sighing with annoyance every so often. The Golden trio were quite tired of hearing him complain, but nobody wanted to say anything. Ron was the first to break.

“Can’t you just run up and down the train corridors or something? That tapping is getting on my nerves!”

Sonic glanced down at his foot in surprise.  _ Oops _ . He glanced out of the compartment to the corridor, and a huge smile came onto his face. “That’s a great idea! Thanks, Ron!”

He opened the compartment door and was gone in a flash. Ron looked from where he had been talking to Sonic and then to the compartment door. He stared at Harry and Hermione. “He’s fast, isn’t he?”

Hermione laughed and Harry nodded. “Very.”

After about an hour of blue flashes going by their compartment, the train slowed to stop. Hermione put away  _ The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4  _ and began repacking her books. Sonic skidded back inside the compartment, poking Shadow to wake him up. The wizards watched nervously as they got their luggage down, though the worry was unneeded. Shadow merely stretched and grunted, looking out the window and trying to squint through the rain. “Is that a castle?” He asked, slightly surprised. 

“Yes!” Hermione answered excitedly. “It’s actually the castle of-”

Harry and Ron groaned loudly and exited the compartment. Sonic remained for a moment longer, listening with interest, before exiting. Hermione and Shadow followed behind him quickly. Hermione was still on her tangent, and Shadow at the very least appeared to be listening as well. 

“ _ And _ Hogwarts has all sorts of secrets, passageways and the like, that still have to be discovered-”

Sonic perked up.  _ That sounds exciting! _ “Really?” 

Hermione smiled. “Yes!”

_ Now I’m definitely looking forward to finally getting there! _ Sonic glanced around the platform. His jaw dropped when he saw a towering shape up ahead, human in shape.  _ What in the world-? _

“Hullo Harry, Ron, Hermione!” A deep voice bellowed.

“Hi, Hagrid!” They called back, waving wildly to be seen in the stormy darkness.

Sonic glanced at Shadow, who seemed equally in shock. “Is that… a human?” Sonic asked, dumbfounded. ‘Hagrid’ had to be at least eight feet tall!

Harry grinned down at him, still waving at Hagrid. “Yeah! He’s the professor for Care of Magical Creatures.”

Sonic regarded the jovial giant a bit more warily. ‘Magical Creatures’ always seemed to have a negative connotation in this world. Still, he wasn’t one to judge before meeting people. “Interesting.”

The rain continued soaking into his fur. He just now took notice of it, flicking his ear irritably. “Well, I’ll see you guys later. I’m gonna head up to the castle before I get anymore soaked!”

* * *

He couldn’t enter the front door. 

“Are you kidding me?!” He had exploded, praying to whatever deities were in this world that he would  _ just _ be able to get out of the rain. It was to no avail. Sonic was furious. His fur was completely soaking wet and no matter where he ran there wasn’t anywhere to shelter. 

He was almost ready to bang his head against the stone walls of the castle when the first carriage arrived. It was pulled by a strange skeletal horse, giant leathery wings tucked against its sides. The creature was clearly intelligent, and watched him just as curiously as he watched it. He momentarily forgot about the rain and stepped closer, slowly reaching his hands up to pet it. The creature regarded him warily before slowly pushing its head into his hand. He laughed softly, deciding to give it a few scratches behind its (presumable) ears as the students exited the carriage it was pulling.

“Sonic… What’re you doing?”

The thestral backed off, swishing its tail side to side. Sonic watched it, distractedly replying, “Nothing.”

Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione, confused, but decided to let it be. Shadow came up beside Sonic, also watching the skeleton horse, his expression unreadable. The horse blinked curiously at him, its white eyes empty yet somehow alive. Ignoring the snickers of the students around him, Shadow mimicked Sonic and reached his hand up. Also similar to Sonic, the horse butted its head into his hand, with such force Shadow had to take a step back to keep his balance.

Sonic wore an amused smile on his face, though his eyes were gentle. “I think it likes ya, Shads.”

Shadow pet the horse a bit more on its glistening black skin. “...Indeed.”

Sonic looked around, watching the remaining students whisper. Could they not see the horse? Or was there some other reason for the snickers? Searching the area, he suddenly realized the girl from the train station was standing a little ways off, watching them, the same dreamy expression on her face. She approached, causing some more students to laugh. “Look at Loony!” They jeered. The girl ignored them and smiled at Sonic and Shadow, calmly asking, “So you can see them too?”

Sonic nodded. Shadow remained silent, still entranced by the skeletal horse. The girl glanced at Shadow, mouth curling up slightly. Her gaze returned to Sonic as she continued, “It’s called a Thestral.” Sonic tested out the word soundlessly. “They can only be seen by those who have witnessed death.”

Shadow froze, hand raised. Sonic knew he was thinking of the Maria girl and Professor Gerald. Sonic himself had witnessed several deaths in his life. He didn’t like to think about it. 

Shadow seemed to be having a hard time breathing.

“C’mon Shads, let’s go catch up.” Sonic said quietly.

Shadow finally nodded, stepping away from the Thestral. He studied it a moment more before turning away, the unreadable expression back on his face. The thestral squawked like a large bird, and the girl watched them leave sadly. “I didn’t mean to upset him…” She told the thestral, reaching her hand up to pet it. The remaining students laughed at her like they always did before going on their way.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Stepping into the castle through the great oak doors, Sonic had approximately a minute to enjoy the warmth of the torchlight before a bright red water balloon burst on top of his head. Spluttering, he bristled, looking for the source of the detestable water prank. The surrounding students, who looked to be no older than twelve, pointed upwards frantically. Sonic looked up only to see another water balloon sailing towards his face. He hopped out of the way, Shadow doing the same, and finally found the culprit. It was a strange little man, with a wide, wide, face and an orange bow-tie around his fat neck. “Oh-ho-ho, Peeves’ got the little half-breed, he has!”

“That’s what you think!” Sonic yelled, smirking cockily. Inwardly he was totally pissed that he had gotten soaked yet again. He jumped, zigzagging from wall to wall by performing a homing attack and using the sturdy bricks as a springboard. He was quickly level with the little man, who was frozen in shock. He performed one last spindash, knocking Peeves into a wall, and fell gracefully to the ground. He put his hands on his hips while amused my watching the little man regain his wits. Shadow rolled his eyes, and Sonic internally cheered that he had put Shadow in better spirits. “Always the show-off, aren’t you?” asked Shadow in exasperation. Sonic shrugged, grin still on his face as the students gaped at him in awe. 

“That was amazing!” Someone finally said.

“Yeah, do it again!” Another cried. 

The crowd began to approach him but Sonic brushed them off. “Nah. I’m starving, let’s eat!”

That got the students chattering. Most of them continued onwards, up the staircase into what appeared to be a humongous room, but a few brave stragglers remained, clearly curious about the new arrivals. Sonic and Shadow began walking up the giant staircase. Shadow raised an eyebrow at him, vaguely impressed. “I didn’t know you could be that sneaky, faker.”

Sonic put his hands behind his head, easily replying, “What can I say? I’m a guy full of surprises.”

Shadow “Hmph”ed and they soon arrived at the biggest dining hall Sonic had ever seen. His mouth was already watering at the thought of all the food that would soon fill up the massive tables. Catching sight of Harry, Ron, and Hermione waving at him from the table draped in red. He strode forward, ready to join them, but a stern-faced old woman blocked his way. “Just where do you think you’re going, Mr. Hedgehog?”

Sonic exchanged alarmed glances with Shadow. “You know who we are?” He asked the women. She sighed exasperatedly. “Of course I do, Albus told me. You’ve got to get Sorted with the first years.” 

“Sorted?” Shadow asked cautiously.

The women looked bemused. “Yes, Sorted. Now get in line.”

“But wait, what about dinner?” begged Sonic.

The women turned away, green robes trailing behind her. “There will be no food until all of the first years are sorted. That includes you.” She didn’t speak another word, leaving them dumbfounded. 

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Sonic complained, getting in line behind the first years, most of which looked like they’d been caught in a tsunami. Shadow didn’t say anything. The first years squirmed uncomfortably, clearly put off by his volume and appearance. Students began whispering and pointing at him and Shadow, but Sonic didn’t give them the time of day. He was hungry, sopping, and ready to sit down.

The old woman from before brought out an old tattered hat, creases making it seem as though it had a face. Sonic huffed and began tapping his foot. Shadow shot him and annoyed glare, but if anything that only increased his impatience. To his surprise (he would later deny he had jumped), the hat began to move, and a voice echoed around the large room. Sonic quickly realized it was emanating from the hat. He curiously peered closer to get a better look, standing on his tiptoes and attempting to see over the heads of the eleven year olds, most of which were still somehow taller than him. Curiously perking his ears, he realized that the hat was _ singing _ .

_ A thousand years or more ago _

_ When I was newly sewn, _

_ There lived four wizards of renown, _

_ Whose names are still well known: _

_ Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor, _

_ Fair Ravenclaw, from glen, _

_ Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad, _

_ Shrewd Slytherin, from fen. _

_ They shared a wish, a hope, a dream, _

_ They hatched a daring plan _

_ To educate young sorcerers _

_ Thus Hogwarts School began. _

_ Now each of these four founders _

_ Formed their own house, for each _

_ Did value different virtues _

_ In the ones they had to teach. _

_ By Gryffindor, the bravest were _

_ Prized far beyond the rest; _

_ For Ravenclaw, the cleverest _

_ Would always be the best; _

_ For Hufflepuff, hard workers were _

_ Most worthy of admission; _

_ And power-hungry Slytherin _

_ Loved those of great ambition. _

_ While still alive they did divide _

_ Their favourites from the throng, _

_ Yet how to pick the worthy ones _

_ When they were dead and gone? _

_ Twas Gryffindor who found the way, _

_ He whipped me off his head _

_ The founders put some brains in me _

_ So I could choose instead! _

_ Now slip me snug about your ears, _

_ I've never yet been wrong, _

_ I'll have a look inside your mind _

_ And tell where you belong! _

Sonic bemusedly clapped, Shadow giving a much slower round of applause along with the rest of the great hall.  _ Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin… _ glancing around the hall, he realized each table corresponded with a particular color.  _ Ah, so that’s it! We’re going to get sorted into our houses, based on personality I guess, which probably means our House is who we’ll be spending most of our time with. _

The old woman from before stood calmly next to the hat, and, once it was done singing, took out a list of names and began to read them off. One by one the first years disappeared into their houses, welcomed with a round of applause each time. Finally the woman read off, “Hedgehog, Sonic!”

Sonic stepped forward, waving proudly to the crowd, a stark contrast to the terrified first years. Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked a bit shocked, but they politely waved back nonetheless. Sonic sat down on the stool, crossed his legs, and waited.

The hat was placed gently on his head.  _ What do we have here? _ A voice asked in his head.  _ Exceedingly interesting. I wasn’t told there would be non-humans this year, though you’re certainly quite smarter than a number of the ones I’ve met. _

Sonic wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do, so he went with his usual and tried to strike up a conversation.  _ You probably know what I am by now, but what are you? _

_ I am what you see. Nothing more, nothing less, _ the hat answered honestly.  _ Now, will you allow me past your mental block? _

_ Oh, uh, sure!  _ Sonic hadn’t even realized he had one. The hat chuckled, purely in his thoughts.  _ It’s alright. Sometimes individuals with an exceptional level of self-awareness can form one unconsciously, though I must say it’s a bit strange to be Sorting someone your age. _

_Well, I guess by now you know everything about me,_ Sonic thought. _Yes_ , the hat drawled, _and you are quite the experienced newcomer._ _Incomparably brave feats, loyalty to your friends, an incorruptible goodness in your heart… I’ll put you in-_

“GRYFFINDOR!” The hat roared. 

The applause was enormous. As the old witch took the hat off his head, she said, “I’ll be watching you carefully, Mr. Hedgehog. Do  _ not _ embarrass my house.”

_ Oh no, is she the head of the House? _ Sonic nearly groaned out loud. He hoped she wasn’t going to be one of the teachers, if he had to go to classes, but somehow he doubted his luck would be that good. He sprinted over to the Golden Trio. Everyone who had blinked for that millisecond missed him, looking around and confusedly spotting him already sitting at the Gryffindor table.

“Hedgehog, Shadow!”

Shadow strode up. He was already much more intimidating than Sonic, glaring at any who dared look his way. Sonic chuckled when the hat was put on him. _ Did I look like that?  _ He wondered in faint embarrassment.

Xxx

_ Another one, eh? _ A voice asked in his head. Shadow was instantly on guard.  _ Who are you? _ He demanded. The voice chuckled.  _ Nobody but a hat. Will you please put down your mental block? I need to Sort you. _

_ No.  _ Shadow responded _. He had had enough of people messing with his memories.  _ The hat sighed. _ Very well then. Tell me about yourself. Quickly, now. _

_ I am Shadow the Hedgehog, Ultimate Lifeform.  _

_ Yes yes, I can see that much. But what are you like? _

Images flashed through Shadow’s head.  _ The Ark. Maria. Professor Gerald. G.U.N. Doctor Eggman. Rouge. Omega. Black Doom. Sonic. Himself, guns blazing, facing the Black Arms invasion. _

_ Interesting, interesting.  _ The hat mused.  _ But you're not giving me much. Those are the people who have impacted you, but not you yourself. Anything else important before I make the call? _

_ Racing with Sonic down Final Rush. Turning Super to save the Earth. Sacrificing himself for Maria’s wish. Teaming up with Rogue and Omega. Recovering his memories. His ruthlessness. His power. His desire to keep the planet safe, first for Maria, now also for himself. _

_ Incredible. The hat mused. You two truly are already extraordinary. But I know what you are- _

“SLYTHERIN!” The hat roared, for the second time that night.

Xxx 

The Slytherin table erupted into cheers, with smatterings of applause by the other Houses, minus Gryffindor, which was booing loudly. 

“Good luck Shads!” Sonic had to yell in order for him to hear. He acknowledged him with a flick of his ear. 

“I won’t need it.” He said smugly. He stalked down the aisles, smirking wickidly when he saw the boy from the train staring at him, trying to be blank-faced. He took a seat near an empty spot at the end of the table. Everyone in the vicinity scooted away from him.

The old woman continued to call off names until she reached the end of the list. She folded up the piece of parchment and nodded at an old man sitting at the high table. He abruptly stood up, appearing as though he were going to make a speech. However, all he said was, “ _ Tuck in _ .”

To Sonic’s amazement, food appeared upon the table with no warning, leaving his hands tantalizingly close to a steak. He scanned for nearly a minute for any chili dogs, but to his endless disappointment, there weren’t any. He almost teared up dramatically at the loss. _ These wizards have no idea what they’re missing out on. _

He settled for some roast beef and what seemed to be a glass of orange juice.  _ Weird dinner combo, but food is food.  _ The roast beef tasted normal enough, so he put some more food onto his plate and took a sip of orange juice...spitting it out immediately. 

“What  _ is _ this stuff?” He asked in disgust, attempting to show Ron the offending beverage. Ron glanced at the drink, replying bemusedly, “Pumpkin juice, of course.”

_ Pumpkin _ juice? Sonic discretely attempted to push his juice as far from him as possible, reaching for what he  _ hoped _ was water. He sipped it, and deeming it safe, brought it over to his plate so he could continue eating. He was taking a large bite out of his roast beef when a translucent head popped through the table. Contrary to the horrified shock of the first years around him, he continued to chew calmly. The ghost floated over to him curiously. “What have we here?” 

Sonic studied the man. He was much different from the ghosts on Mobius, given that he had actual shape and wasn’t just an indistinct blob. He also wore old-style victorian clothing, perhaps from an even older period. There was something off about him, though Sonic couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

It fell into place when his head came off. Sonic did  _ not  _ jump out of his seat, but  _ calmly _ watched as the ghost fixed his head up to gauge his expression. “Works every time.” The ghost chuckled, seemingly satisfied. He floated over to Harry’s side of the table. “You lot are lucky there’s a feast tonight at all. There was trouble in the kitchens earlier. Peeves, of course.”

“Really?” Ron asked with a mouth full of food. He swallowed, adding, “He did seem a bit off about something.”

The ghost nodded. “The whole place was swimming in soup, pots and pans everywhere… Peeves wanted to attend the feast tonight, but wisely, in my opinion, the Bloody Baron put his foot down. Those poor house-elves, they had to get everything ready again-”

“House-elves?” Hermione interrupted, looking absolutely horrified. She glanced down at her plate and shoved it away, knocking over her pumpkin juice and spilling it over the table.

“Watch it, Hermione!” Sonic said, holding his own plate out of the way of the seeping liquid. “I know you’re upset about the house-elves, but that’s no reason to waste their hard work.”

Hermione frowned even more deeply. She turned to the ghost, questioning him relentlessly. “Do they at least get paid? Vacation times? Pensions? Please tell me they at least get sick leave!”

The ghost shook his head, confused, his head wobbling back and forth on its stump. Hermione’s expression became even more horrified and she stared at her plate in unhidden disgust. Sonic looked down at his plate, where he had idly been pushing food around. Despite his own words to her, he suddenly didn’t feel very hungry anymore.

“‘Er-my-knee,” Ron said, mouth once again full of food, “Starving yourself won’t get them sick leave.”

“Slave labor.” said Hermione, breathing very heavily through her nose, “That’s what this dinner is made of.  _ Slave labor. _ ”

Sonic felt guilt welling up in him as he stared at his unrated roast beef. He had only met one house-elf, but there was just something so fundamentally wrong about being bound to another person’s demands, body and soul. The person could even be a complete stranger, like the students ( _ and me _ , he thought angrily), but the house-elves were still put to work trying to please them. He guiltily glanced at the pumpkin juice he had spit out.  _ Ugh, this is so frustrating. _ He stopped eating and pushed his plate away slightly, trying to figure out what he was going to do. _ I’ll go talk to the house-elves sometime, _ he finally decided.  _ If anything, I can make my own dinner. _

Hermione nodded at him approvingly while Ron and Harry rolled their eyes. Sonic paid them no mind, instead drumming his fingers across the table to try and figure out a coherent argument he could make to creatures who apparently loved servitude. He didn’t touch dessert, and despite Ron’s best attempts, Hermione didn’t either.

Before long the students had all finished dinner and were gossiping loudly. Again, with no warning, the dishes disappeared to be cleaned, also presumably by the house-elves. He whispered to Harry across the table to try and get some introductions. Harry explained that the ghost from earlier was name Nearly-Headless Nick, the old woman was Professor McGonagall, the giant was Professor Hagrid, the one who was in desperate need of a shower was Snape, the short one was Flitwick, the one who looked like he wanted to gut the students was Filch, and the old man was Albus Dumbledore. Sonic nodded, committing the faces to the names. These people would probably prove pretty useful if he was looking for information (and were certainly more reliable than the student body).

Sonic glanced at Shadow, seeing he was alone and brooding. His crimson glare kept most of the students away, though a few girls were persistently trying to talk to him. Sonic had his own share of admirers after the Peeves incident, but he had ignored them in favor of the food. Now that dinner was over, he couldn’t help noticing the suspicious gazes and scrutinizing looks.

Sighing, he turned his attention to the head table. Dumbledore had stood up and was making his way to the podium. Whispers flew throughout the Great Hall (Hermione had talked about some locations within the school itself) as he stood and swept his arms open in a gesture of greeting.

“So,” he announced, “Now that we are all fed and watered,” (“Hmph!” said Hermione) “I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle this year has been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch’s office, if anybody would like to check it.”

“Those items all sound extremely cool.” Sonic whispered to Harry. He nodded wisely, whispering back, “They definitely are.”

The corners of Dumbledore’s twitched and a sparkle entered his eyes. “I’m sure you’ve all noticed our two new students this year. They  _ are _ quite eye-catching, but please be polite, and do not ask Mr. Hedgehog to demonstrate his speed, for I fear that replacing all the windows in the school would be quite costly.”

The students erupted into whispering, but Dumbledore continued calmly, raising his voice a bit, “As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all those below third year. It is also my painful duty this year to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year.”

_ Now  _ the Great Hall erupted into groans and angry mutterings. Harry whipped around to exchange looks with Fred and George. 

“ _ What? _ ” He asked, trying to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. The twins were gaping soundlessly at Dumbledore, mouths working disbelievingly in tandem. Sonic puffed his cheeks in annoyance.  _ Well, that sucks. I was looking forward to more Quidditch once we got here. _

“However,” Dumbledore continued, a knowing twinkle coming into his eyes, “the teachers this year will be devoting a great amount of their time and energy to another task, one I’m sure you will enjoy immensely. It is my pleasure to announce that this year, Hogwarts will be hosting-”

At that moment a terrible knocking started at the great oak doors at the entrance hall. Sonic whirled around. “Who could that be?” he wondered out loud.

His question was answered a moment later when the doors swung open, revealing the silhouette of a very haggard looking man. Sonic squinted at him. He was sure the whole of the Great Hall was doing the same thing, trying to get a better look at the stranger. He stepped inside, and Sonic realized one of his legs was a stump, replaced by wood. As the flickering torch light further illuminated his face, Sonic’s eyes widened. His nose was gone. The stranger advanced, the student body completely silent. Sonic was sure Shadow was also scrutinizing this man, though much more effectively than any of the students. He didn’t get up quite yet. He could be there in less than a second if he needed to. The stranger reached the Great Hall, and Sonic nearly did a double take, realizing that one of his eyes was fake, spinning wildly in its socket. The electric blue eye peered straight at him, and Sonic got the uncomfortable feeling it was looking straight through him. It spun around a few times more, eventually zeroing on Harry and staying there as the stranger finally made it to Dumbledore, even going so far as to rotate completely in the stranger’s socket, probably to watch Harry through the man’s head. It was incredibly off-putting, even for Sonic, and he’d seen some freaky stuff.

The man extended a hand as badly scarred as his face to Dumbledore, who shook it and inquired something in an undertone. The man shook his head, unsmiling, and limped over to the teacher’s table, where he promptly took a potato, sniffed it suspiciously, then speared it with a pocket knife he had gotten from somewhere in his robes. Silence resounded throughout the Great Hall. Dumbledore politely cleared his throat. “May I introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?” He said brightly into the silence. “Professor Alastor Moody.” The man didn’t so much as grunt, continuing to peel his potato loudly.

Only Dumbledore and Hagrid clapped politely, though the sound fell dimly into the quiet. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were discussing Moody (whose name was also apparently Mad-Eye Moody, as if Moody wasn’t a strange enough last name). Sonic quickly began to clap to cover the silence, a couple of younger students following his lead. This led to the older students joining in, and soon all the Great Hall was politely clapping along as well. Dumbledore beamed. 

“As I was saying, this year Hogwarts will have the honor of hosting a very exciting event, one that has not been held in centuries. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament this year.”

“You’re JOKING!” said Fred very loudly. The tension in the Great Hall eased as everybody broke into laughter. Sonic wasn’t sure what was happening, but he laughed along anyway. 

“I am  _ not _ joking, Mr. Weasley,” Dumbledore said. He went on to explain the Triwizard Tournament, which apparently had a  _ death toll _ . Sonic was nearly bursting with excitement.  _ Why don’t we have something like this on Mobius? It sounds so. Freaking. Cool! _

He was sure Shadow was listening just as intently as he was. He was going to convince Shadow that even if they couldn’t find the Chaos Emerald, they were absolutely staying for the Tournament. It sounded  _ way _ too cool to miss. Besides, if two more schools of wizards were coming to Hogwarts, that would make this place a prime gathering spot for chaos energy, and if Shadow’s theory was correct and the emerald followed the usual pattern (than again, it was a  _ Chaos _ Emerald), then they really would be better off just staying at Hogwarts. And watching the Tournament. That too, for sure.  _ Maybe I can even enter…? _

His hopes were dashed as Dumbledore continued, explaining that there was going to be an age restriction for students 17 and up. Sonic groaned. Wait, does stasis count?! He shot a glance at Shadow, but Shadow had apparently read his thoughts and was mouthing from across the room,  **Don’t even think about it.** Sonic pouted, scheming how he could get involved in the tournament, which many other students were doing as well. He could particularly hear Fred and George plotting rather loudly from across the table. This impartial judge… surely if he showed off his speed, he would be allowed to enter? He was probably way more experienced than even the sixth and seventh years at this school, especially when it came to physical fighting.  _ But...I guess this is supposed to be a magic tournament _ . Maybe he wouldn’t be allowed because he didn’t know any magic…? He sighed unhappily, listening to the rest of Dumbldore’s speech. It seemed there would be prize money involved, not to mention fame.

“Alright, I believe that’s enough for the night. Off to bed. Chop chop!” The students, still grumbling, reluctantly heeded his words and began to leave their seats, traveling with their houses to wherever they would be sleeping. Sonic followed them, but he was interrupted by Dumbledore, who also beckoned Shadow over. They looked up at him, with his half-moon spectacles and long beard trailing on the ground. He smiled kindly, “Please meet me in my office tomorrow morning. Sonic, you can ask Harry where to go, and bring Shadow with you on your way to breakfast. Sleep well.” And then he was gone. Sonic exchanged glances with Shadow. He grunted. “Tomorrow, faker.”

“See ya then, Shads.” 

They each separated to go after their respective houses. Sonic quickly caught up, thinking about the events of the past day.  _ It’s inconvenient we got sorted into different houses, sure, but honestly, it’s probably better this way. If we were stuck together any longer, I think he may have eventually bitten my head off!  _ Sonic didn’t think badly of Shadow for it, of course. He knew he was definitely not the easiest person to be around. He just wished Shadow would socialize a little more (and hopefully become a little more friendly). They had been on better terms for awhile, fierce rivalry turning into something more like friendly competition. Sonic of course considered Shadow a friend, but he honestly wasn’t sure if Shadow thought the same. Ever since the Black Arms Invasion, he had been doing his best to worm under Shadow’s thick armor, trying to help Shadow come out of his shell a little, but he didn’t know if he had succeeded yet. Sighing, Sonic put the thoughts away for another time. 

He automatically helped Neville out of the staircase where he was stuck, smiling easily at his astonished look. He was actually quite strong, despite his (noodly) appearance. The boy thanked him, shooting him a grateful look over his shoulder as he entered the Gryffindor dorms. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all discussing the Tournament up ahead, but he had little desire to join them for once. A couple students tried to talk to him, and while his responses were friendly enough, he was a bit tired (mentally of course, he could still run laps around the castle if he wanted too), and so cut every conversation short in an attempt to conserve energy. He climbed the staircase, yawning into his hand, and collapsed onto the nearest bed with no trunk. He had no belonging with him in this world besides his shoes and gloves. Mrs. Weasley had been kind enough to offer to buy him some new clothes, but Sonic had declined. He’d rather go shopping for himself, and he didn’t want to dip into the Weasleys' already low funds. He curled up beneath the covers, barely remembering to kick his shoes off at the foot of his bed.

He slept dreamlessly, already looking forward to tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, was that long enough for ya? I'm pretty happy with this chapter, but as usual, let me know what you think in the comments. Hope you enjoyed, and as always, have a wonderful day!
> 
> P.S. If you want reference pictures of Sonic crossdressing look no further than Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s kind of scary.


	10. Malfoy gets Roasted and Other Important Conversations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm definitely not in love with this chapter even though it was kind of necessary. I feel like its really stilted and doesn't flow very well. Despite that, I hope you all enjoy. You know what I did like writing? Malfoy getting roasted. That was fun.

“Sonic? Sonic, wake up. We’ve got to go down for breakfast. Sonic- Ouch!”  
Ron pulled his hand back quickly, looking at Harry with round eyes. “Blimey Harry, you didn’t tell me he was a bloody pincushion!”

Sonic yawned and pushed himself up from the unreasonably comfortable bed. “I resent that.” He joked. He stretched out for a moment, then hopped out of bed, quickly buckling his shoes. Harry and Ron exchanged glances, shrugged, and followed him out of the room.

 _Pincushion? Haven’t heard that one in a while._ Sonic smiled faintly, yawning again. They met up with Hermione in the Common Room, and the four of them proceeded to breakfast. Sonic could smell the sausages sizzling deliciously from the Great Hall and his mouth started watering. Sighing, he entered the hall and began scanning for Shadow, resigning himself to a quick breakfast. “There he is! Well, see ya later!” He waved to the trio, already across the room. They awkwardly waved back, then turned to begin whispering among themselves. 

“Hey, wait a second!” Sonic yelled to Harry. “Where’s Professor Dumbledore’s office?” Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione with a look Sonic couldn’t quite discern, but came over and gave him directions anyway. “Thanks, Harry!” Harry nodded, seemingly a little dumbfounded by his early morning energy. 

Sonic grinned and made his way over to Shadow, already salivating at the thought of food. Then he remembered the house-elves. He sighed loudly. _I guess as long as it’s already made, I shouldn’t waste it. I’ll have to talk to the old man about it._

“Heya Shads!” Sonic called, approaching him cheerfully. Shadow groaned. “Made some friends?”

Shadow glanced around the table. Nobody would get within five feet of him. “Hardly.”

Sonic sat down next to him, crossing his legs and leaning on the table. “We gotta go in like…” He checked his imaginary watch, “Two minutes, tops.” He snuck a hand over to Shadow’s plate.

Shadow, in the middle of taking a bite of some eggs, picked up his knife and slammed it into the table dangerously close to Sonic’s hand. Smiling innocently, Sonic withdrew his hand , discreetly checking for injuries. 

“Don’t try me, faker.” Shadow growled, angrily chewing his food. “Get your own.” 

Sonic shrugged and reached for a plate of those steaming sausages.

“Back off, Gryffindor.” A Slytherin warned. Sonic waved a hand at him. “Hey, we’re all friends here. No need to be rude.”

The Slytherin gaped at him like he had just broken a priceless antique vase. The few other students, taking notice, began to murmur, watching them intently. Sonic calmly munched on a sausage. Shadow clutched his fork in a death grip. “Let’s move, faker.” He said, pushing his plate away and standing.

Sonic nodded, still chewing, and got up with him. “ ‘arry said Dumbles’ office is this way-”

“Chew with your mouth closed, that’s disgusting.”

Sonic swallowed, hesitating before taking another bite, scratching his head with his free hand. “Wonder what we’re supposed to talk about…”

Shadow sighed. _I can’t have one morning of peace…_ “Possibly classes, possibly the emerald… based on his speech last night it’s probably safe to assume he at least knows about its existence.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Oh, seems like we’re already here.”

An ugly gargoyle loomed above them, mouth open and claws rearing. It was exactly as Harry had described it, down to the last gleaming bronze feather. “Password?” It seemed to ask. There was no sound, merely a strange echoing in Sonic’s head. 

“Ah, um-” _Crap! I don’t think Harry told me! Or was it that the password changed? Ugh, darn it, we’re gonna be late-_

“Sherbert Lemon.” A calm voice said behind them. Sonic and Shadow whirled around, less in surprise that it was Dumbledore himself and more because he had somehow managed to sneak up on them. He gave nothing away in his small smile, but strode forward as the gargoyle moved aside, gesturing for them to follow. Shadow followed him first, Sonic trailing a little behind. He studied the gargoyle once more before advancing up the spiral staircase behind the other two.

Dumbledore’s office was a cozy space, perhaps a bit more welcoming than any Headmaster’s office ought to be. The room was draped in clothes of all shapes, sizes, and colors, and Sonic was pretty sure he spotted the Sorting Hat laying on top of an old cabinet. A red and gold bird was sitting calmly on its perch, unblinking eyes wholly focused on them. Sonic glanced at Shadow, who was already intently studying the bird. They appeared to be having a staring contest of some sort. Dumbledore had taken a seat behind the old mahogany desk, and though his expression was serious, his eyes betrayed his amusement. Sonic hopped into the human sized chair, Shadow quickly breaking eye contact with the bird and following suit. 

Dumbledore steepled his fingers. The ever-present twinkle Sonic was coming to associate with him was gone. “Now, my friends,” He began, “If I am to continue allowing you to stay at Hogwarts, I must first know what exactly your intentions are while you are here.”

Sonic opened his mouth to respond, but Shadow beat him to it. “How do we know we can trust you?” asked Shadow seriously.

Dumbledore sighed, peering at them over steepled fingers. “I am afraid you don’t. I have no way to prove that I am not under the influence of Imperious or have not been replaced by a Polyjuice potion. My word will have to do for now.”

Shadow narrowed his eyes. Sonic regarded him warily, but said, “I believe you.”

“What?” Shadow whipped his head towards him. “That easily? You’ve got to be kidding me, faker!”

Sonic shot a glance at Dumbledore, who was kindly pretending(?) not to notice their conversation. “This is the only guy we’ve gotta convince if we want to stay here! What have we got to lose?” He whispered.

“What will you do if the existence of the emerald gets out?” Shadow was talking so quietly Sonic had to strain his ears to hear him. “There is a chance someone,” he shot a glance at Dumbledore. He was quietly chewing candy from a nearby bowl. “May learn of it and attempt to use it, or worse, hide it from us.”

“Yeah, well, still. This guy is our best shot if we want some help. At least, I think that’s what Mr. W was implying-” whispered Sonic furiously.

“So what? We can sense the energy for ourselves! We don’t need strangers-”

“Shadow, listen to me! Aren’t more pairs of eyes better than a few? Besides, the people at this school are probably the most trustworthy in this world. They teach kids! I get it, we need to be cautious, but I still think we need the help.”

Shadow glanced at Dumbledore. It still seemed as though he was actively not listening, though he was sure both he and Sonic highly doubted _that_ . Shadow paused, brow furrowed. He weighed the pros and cons of letting the man in on their search. Even Mr. Weasley hadn’t known about the emerald, only aware they were looking for a specific object. Most likely the only people who knew about the emerald’s existence were Harry, his two friends, and Sonic and himself (but that was a given). They had already told the Ministry of Magic about the emeralds, but Shadow had let that slide because he believed that the sort of people in charge wouldn’t go looking for anything related to a ‘sub-human’ species. They would probably chalk it up to myth, if anyone besides that women read the registration on them at all. At this school however, which they would be staying at for an indefinite amount of time, there was the very real possibility that more than a few people would be let in on the secret. The more eyes they had helping, the more chances for greed to overcome the humans, something very common in _that_ particular species. However, there was a particularly high chance of the emerald choosing to appear in the general vicinity of the school, if his theory on the magic-chaos relationship of this world was correct. It would be very helpful to have a network of powerful wizards in the situation of somebody finding the gem before he and Sonic. If one of them got their hands on it and he and Sonic already had a certain number of allies, they would be hard-pressed not to hear about the discovery. And who in this world would know how to even _attempt_ to harness the power of Chaos? Shadow unconsciously thought of the cold ring on his finger. _Decisions, Decisions._

“Fine, tell him. But if this backfires, you aren’t going to shrug off the blame again.”

Sonic grinned at him. “Well, it’ll still be your fault since you’re letting me do it. So…”

“Shut up, faker.”

Sonic turned to face Dumbledore, legs swinging off the to-high chair. “We aren’t here to scope out information for rival schools or anything. We’re looking for something. It’s called a Chaos Emerald.”

Dumbledore tuned back into the conversation. “Chaos Emerald, you say? Can you describe it to me?”

Sonic furrowed his brow. He was used to people knowing exactly what he was talking about. Chaos Emeralds weren’t... _hard_ _to describe_ , per say. It was just that nobody really quite understood the sheer amount of energy given off by an emerald until they were standing right in front of it. “A Chaos Emerald is a really powerful gem. It’s sort of shaped like a diamond, I guess, but it gives off _a ton_ of energy. It would be pretty bad if a bad guy got a hold of it.”

Dumbledore took in the information quite well. Did they have similar artifacts in this world? “I see. I don’t believe I have seen anything quite like what you’re describing. But I’m afraid I don’t understand why you think you’ll be able to find such an item at Hogwarts...”

Sonic sighed. He was disappointed, sure, but it was what he had been expecting. He glanced at Shadow. He wore his usual neutral expression, perhaps a tinge more downcast than usual. “I have a theory.” Shadow spoke suddenly. Sonic quieted, listening intently. Dumbledore did the same.

“While I was at the World Cup,” Shadow began. 

Dumbledore interrupted, “You were at the World Cup?” Shadow curtly nodded. Dumbledore’s expression became sharply interested. “And you were with young Harry Potter, I take it?”

Sonic nodded. “Yeah, he was- er, we were. Harry was the first person I met when I came to this world. He was nice enough to listen to my story and get me some bandages.”

“Bandages? Why did you need bandages?”

“Well, I had just gotten attacked by this wizard guy- he was actually the first person I met- but his spell left a huge bruise on me, so I ended up going to Harry’s house to look for some painkillers and bandages-”

“Attacked? I’m sorry, continue.” Dumbledore appeared troubled. Shadow was frustrated he had been interrupted, but Sonic continued with his story.

“And anyway, I climbed in through the top window, and I met Harry. He’s a nice kid, and so we talked for a little bit and I told him how I got here.”

“And how did you get here, Mr. Hedgehog?”

“Well, hehe,” Sonic saw Shadow discretely roll his eyes next to him and resisted the urge to poke his tongue out. “We had an accident with the uh, Chaos Emerald. And ended up here.”

“Interesting. Interesting.” Dumbledore appeared to think over the new information. He was quiet for a few moments, before turning to look at Shadow. “I’m sorry Mr. Hedgehog, please go on.”

“As I was saying,” Shadow continued, shooting a dirty glance at Sonic, “While at the World Cup, I came up with a theory. When I had first arrived in this world, it was as though it had no chaos energy. Not a trace. It seemed very strange to me that a Chaos Emerald would end up sending us to a world with no chaos energy. But when I stood and focused in the stadium, I realized that this world does indeed have chaos energy, but rather than having it imbued in the emeralds themselves, it is within the people of this world. So, my theory is this. Chaos is the essence of life. The chaos in your world is very similar to the chaos in our home world, if only for a few small differences in frequency and whatnot. The only place I could feel chaos in this world is when there is a large gathering of wizards. I am proposing that the ‘magic’ of this world is simply what you wizards have decided to call your inner chaos. Each of you have only a small, replenishing amount, which would explain why I had a hard time tracing it when I first arrived. Most of you are only able to use it by channeling it through objects, and in most cases, that appears to be a ‘wand’.”

Dumbledore watching in fascination as Shadow explained. Sonic would admit that he had stopped listening midway through, but what he had heard seemed pretty interesting. Shadow had paused a moment, regaining his breath. He wasn’t used to speaking for such long periods at a time. Dumbledore eventually nodded his head slowly. “This is all incredibly interesting, Mr. Hedgehog, but I’m sorry to say I still don’t quite understand why you need to stay at Hogwarts.”

Shadow huffed. “I was getting to that. If my theory is true, that the people of this world carry chaos energy within themselves, then it stands to reason that if a large enough group of them got together they would form a beacon of sorts. Generally, Chaos Emeralds tend to be attracted if there is another large source of chaos energy nearby. Since Sonic and I landed in this particular part of the world, I believe that we were pulled by the large presence of wizards concentrated here. It is likely the Chaos Emerald will be attracted to this area as well. We wish to stay at this wizard school in order to investigate any appearances of the emerald, as it is the largest gathering of chaos energy in this world besides the Ministry of Magic.”

“I see.” Dumbledore rested his hands on the desk, clearly considering what he should do. Finally he spoke, “I have no reason to refuse you… but I also cannot let you roam free on the campus. You have already been Sorted… although, Mr. Hedgehog,” He looked to Shadow, “Is there anyway you can perform a spell with chaos energy? You say that chaos energy is essentially magic (“Other way around actually,” Shadow muttered under his breath), but is there any way you can prove that? I assume you yourself have chaos energy. Would you be able to perform a spell? Do you need a wand?”

Shadow glanced toward Sonic, who shrugged. “I suppose I could try…And no, I haven’t ever needed a wand, so I don’t see why I need one now.” 

“Wonderful! Here, let’s try this, since you already seem to have some experience.” Dumbledore rifled around behind his desk (“What is it with wizards being so messy?” Sonic whispered to Shadow, though Shadow knew he had no room to talk) and pulled out a book titled _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4_. Sonic recognized it as the book Hermione was reading on the Hogwarts Express. Dumbledore flipped open to a random page. 

“Alarte Ascendare?” Shadow read. He studied the wand motion wizards were supposed to use and practiced with his hand. But what to use it on… Shadow smirked wickedly. This would be fun.

He channeled Chaos Energy to his hands, similar to how he would do when using a Chaos Spear. Before Sonic could react, Shadow performed the motions, released the energy, and shouted, “Alarte Ascendare!”

Sonic began to float. “Oh no.” He grabbed onto the arm of the chair, glaring at Shadow. “Shadow, I swear to Chaos, if you don’t put me down right now, I’ll-”

“You’ll what? Hit the ceiling?” Shadow watched in plain amusement as Sonic, still holding onto the arm of the chair, was now floating vertical to the floor. If his ears weren’t fooling him, he could hear Dumbledore chuckling rather loudly behind him. He let it go on a moment longer before turning to Dumbledore, brow raised. “Is that enough proof for you?” 

Dumbledore had a vivacious twinkle in his eye. “Yes, I believe so.” He drew his wand and with a wordless swish Sonic fell back into the chair. He quickly untangled himself and glared at Shadow with all the fire of a kicked puppy. 

Shadow turned away and shrugged. “Revenge for this whole mess.” He said calmly.

Sonic spluttered. “I thought we agreed that it was both our faults!”

“More your fault than mine.”

“Wha-”

“Hedgehogs!” Dumbledore said calmly. They quieted, Sonic still fuming and Shadow pretending to ignore him. “Thank you for the demonstration, Mr. Hedgehog,” he said, nodding to Shadow, “and thank you for your participation.” He nodded to Sonic.

Sonic pouted and righted himself, ignoring Shadow pretending to ignore him. Dumbledore studied Sonic calmly. “Can you do the same?”

Sonic glanced to the floor. “...No. But I think Mr. Weasley already told ya how fast I am.”

“I see.” Dumbledore mused. “And old did you say we were?”

“We didn’t-” Shadow began, Sonic interrupting him and shooting him a vindictive look. “Fifteen.”

Dumbledore nodded. “Both of you?”

“Well, Shads is technically over fifty-”

“I am not, faker.” Shadow glanced at Dumbledore. “Physically, I am fifteen.” 

Dumbledore gained a look of consideration. He steepled his fingers and was quiet for a moment. “I am going to offer you a deal. Sonic-” It was the first time he had used his first name during the conversation. “Since you cannot perform magic, I am going to have you act as a protector and friend to young Harry, as well as an assistant to any teachers in need of you during your stay. Is that alright with you?”

“Yep! Sounds cool.” Sonic chirped. 

“You will be required to attend all classes with Harry Potter,” Sonic groaned quietly, “But you will not have to do homework. “ Sonic cheered. Shadow was sure if he rolled his eyes again they would probably fall out. “Once all classes are over for Harry, you will go to all teachers and check if any need your assistance. Are you able to do this?”

“In a flash!” Sonic winked. 

“Excellent.” Dumbledore smiled, turning to Shadow. “Shadow, since you are able to perform magic, I am going to ask you to continue classes as normal with the rest of the Slytherins. Perhaps you may pick up a thing or two that will help you find that emerald.” He finished with a wink.

Shadow nodded. Learning more about the magic of this world had been another reason he had wanted to come to the school, besides the fact it was a chaos energy beacon. He was admittedly eager to refine some of his chaos techniques into these ‘spells’. They would be fun to practice on Sonic.

Dumbledore wasn’t quite finished. “In order to help you search, I will inform all teachers of your objective. They are all quite experienced in what they do, and will be of substantial help. And… I believe that is everything. I wish you both luck.”

They nodded, but right before they were about to leave, Sonic remembered something. “Is it okay for me to go into the kitchens?” 

Dumbledore appeared a bit confused. “Yes, provided you do so on your own time. There is a staircase in the Great Hall that will lead you to it.”

Sonic grinned. “Sweet! Thanks, Dumbles!”

Dumbledore watched bemusedly. Sonic was indeed quite quick. He had blinked and the little fellow was gone. Shadow let out a long-suffering sigh. “He does that to everyone.”

And then he too, was gone. 

Dumbledore sat down behind his desk. Fawkes flew over and perched on his shoulder. Dumbledore absently petted him underneath the chin. Slowly a small smile spread across his face. “Fawkes, my dear fellow, I believe this year will be one to remember.” Fawkes squawked in agreement. The smile disappeared, replaced by a troubled look. “For more reasons than one…”

* * *

Breakfast was long over by the time they made it back to the Great Hall. The food had all disappeared and the tables were wiped clean. 

“What’re we supposed to do now?” Sonic asked out loud.

Shadow didn’t answer. He walked over to the Slytherin table (no longer decked out in green), scanning it hopefully. His hand accidentally brushed the table, a schedule abruptly appearing. He jumped, glancing to make sure Sonic hadn’t seen, then picked up his schedule. 

“Faker,” His voice echoed throughout the hall. “Touch your table.

Sonic looked at him like he was crazy, but ran over to the Gryffindor table and placed his hand on it anyway. He jumped as well when a schedule suddenly appeared under his hand. Shadow hid his smile when Sonic glanced his way suspiciously. 

“My schedule’s supposed to be the same as Harry’s… so right now I have- Care of Magical Creatures? Oh no.”

Shadow grunted. _Seems I’ll be stuck with him a little longer._ He continued down the rest of the schedule. After Care of Magical Creatures, he had Charms and History of Magic. The schedule was showing what would become his weekly routine. On Wednesday he would have Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Moody, the man with the scarred face. 

“...I think we can make it on time.” Sonic snickered to himself. Shadow blinked and he was gone. 

“Are you really resorting to stealing my tricks now faker?” asked Shadow.

“Stealing?! As if. You don’t have a patent on starting early, you know.” Sonic teased. They were nearly to the little cabin by the castle, where the lesson was supposed to take place. Sonic skidded to a stop. Shadow turned off the energy feed to his shoes, landing neatly. He crossed his arms and regarded the shocked students haughtily. 

“Hmph.”

Sonic casually waved with a hand before sidling up next to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were watching him with shock (in Ron and Hermione’s case) and resigned acceptance (in Harry’s). “Sup?”

Hagrid (Sonic hoped he remembered his name correctly) cleared his throat to try and regain the class's attention. He nodded to Sonic and Shadow. “Now I assume yer all familiar with Sonic and Shadow. They’re new students, so please be nice-”

“Nice? To what? I hope your not suggesting I associate with half-breeds, you great oaf-”

“You take that back Malfoy!” Harry shouted, but Sonic waved to shush him. Harry looked at him, bewildered, but Sonic grinned widely, pointing at Shadow. Shadow was glowering, his crimson eyes appearing to glow with an unholy light. Harry gulped even though the gaze wasn’t directed at him, but Sonic hadn’t even reacted besides watching intently.

“I hope you’re not talking about me?” said Shadow calmly, though a dangerous undertone was present in his voice. Malfoy gulped, but kept his sneer. He was clearly doing his best not to repeat the train incident.

“Because, if you are… I might actually have to treat you like an adult and hold you accountable for what you say. I wonder if father dearest can protect you way out here?”

“You do, do you? Well I wonder where your mother is, you filthy half-breed. I bet she didn’t even stick around after you were born. Probably left whatever creature she slept with to raise you.”

Shadow chuckled. There was no laughter behind it. “I have no mother. I have no father. I had no one to protect me when I grew up (Sonic knew this was partially untrue, but to what extent, he was unsure), unlike you, who can’t seem to walk two feet without calling for help from your parents. Tell me, _Malfoy,_ ” Shadow raised his gaze, resting it heavily on Malfoy, who seemed frozen to spot with either fear or rage. “Are you a man, or are you a boy? Because I’m afraid I just can’t tell.”

Malfoy snarled, whipping out his wand. Hagrid was in between them in a second. “Calm down, e’eryone! This ain’t the place. You’ll frighten the Skrewts.”

Malfoy slowly put his wand away, glaring at Shadow all the while. He turned away, marching back to his posse in the back of the class, hissing, “I don’t take orders from you, you oaf.” Even though he clearly was. Sonic was sure if he had been talking to anyone _but_ a world-hopping hedgehog who grew up on a space station his insults would have been much more effective.

Sonic tried to exchange a look with Shadow, but he refused to look at him. Sonic knew he wasn’t upset, but was actually trying to contain his anger so he wouldn’t ‘accidentally’ launch a Chaos Spear at a particular blond student. Above him, Harry and Ron were whispering frantically, wide smiles on both their faces as they watched Malfoy be humiliated once again. Sonic placed his hands behind his head and stared at the cloudless sky. _Weird. Different worlds, same sky._

Hagrid proceeded with the lesson, unveiling his Blast-Ended Skrewts. Sonic watched them curiously. They were pale, fleshy creatures, about six inches and shaped vaguely like some sort of crustacean. Their tails wriggled in obvious displeasure, occasionally letting out strong blasts that propelled them across the crates that contained them. Hagrid attempted to explain how the students were supposed to feed them, but nobody could seem to find the mouth on these things. Sonic didn’t think they were particularly interesting, but he had a lot of fun poking his and watching it shoot across the lawn. Shadow wasn’t even attempting to touch his, only kicking it (gently) with his shoe. Harry, Ron and Hermione were at least attempting to appear interested in the lesson, though Sonic suspected it was more for Hagrid’s sake. He could hear Malfoy still acting like a prick towards the back of the class, complaining loudly about how he would complain to his father. Sonic frowned, irritated. _Can’t that kid just be quiet for a bit?_

His ear flicked as he continued trying to ignore what Malfoy was saying. “...I swear, I’d be more interested in watching those half-breeds go to the doctor than taking care of these things. This class is such a joke.”

Ugh, like I’m gonna let Shadow have all the fun! Discreetly, Sonic pointed his Blast-Ended Screwt towards Malfoy and poked it in _just_ the right spot. “REEE!” It squealed loudly and propelled itself right past Malfoy’s smug face, leaving a trail of slime across his cheek. He blinked, then stood up and scanned angrily for the perpetrator. Sonic whistled innocently and strode up to him. “Woah, sorry about that! I had _no idea_ it would go flying…” His smug grin probably gave away that isn’t wasn’t an accident.

Malfoy’s face was scrunched up, but before he could even open his mouth Sonic had grabbed his Skrewt from behind him and was back in his original position, about ten metres from him. The only clue about what had happened was the sudden breeze across Malfoy’s face.

Across from Sonic, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had devolved into a fit of laughter from the look of sheer shock and disgust on Malfoy’s face. Out of the corner of his eye, Sonic spotted a miniscule smile on Shadow’s face. Eventually Malfoy gave up trying to figure out what had happened (despite the fact Dumbledore had quite clearly announced his speed last night) and settled for a, “My father _will_ hear about this.”

The class ended after another hour of poking his Skrewt. Sonic stretched and placed his back in the crate. He desperately wanted a quick run, finding his opportunity just after class ended and on the way to lunch. He ran around the entire Forbidden Forest in less than two minutes and knew he would _have_ to go explore the rest of the campus soon. Shadow would also be going to lunch, but would be sitting with the Slytherins. Sonic was ready for a break from Mr. Grumpy anyhow, and jumped into his seat to begin putting food onto his plate.

“You too?” asked Ron amusedly. Hermione was putting food onto her plate as well, though she seemed a bit ashamed about it. Ron glanced between them. “What happened to slave labor?” 

“Well, this’ll be my last house-elf meal, so I’m not gonna worry about feeling too bad about it.” Sonic explained. He took a large bite of a meat pie of some kind and cringed. This world’s food was definitely not gonna cut it for a long-term stay. He was already looking forward to making Chili Dogs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Ron and Harry exchanged glances, the latter shrugging. Hermione watched him carefully, her mouth full as her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I’m gonna start making my own food, obviously.”

The Golden Trio stared at him a moment before going back to eating. Ron perked up, as though he had remembered something. “What you and Shadow said to Malfoy… that was bloody brilliant!” 

Harry nodded feverently and Hermione giggled. Sonic smiled. “I’m used to dealing with people who think they’re better than everyone. On my home world, there’s this guy, Eggman…” Sonic spent the rest of lunch regaling them with tales of everytime he and his friends had taught Eggman a lesson in humility. 

“Wow Sonic, your homeworld sounds incredible.” said Ron admiringly.

“Yeah, it is! It took a lot of work to get it to where it is though…” Sonic quieted as he remembered the all too recent Eggman takeover. He really did hope his friends were doing okay. He was confident they could take care of themselves, but considering what had happened when he had spent just six months away… 

“You okay?” asked Harry uneasily. Sonic perked up and planted the usual smile on his face. “Yep! Don’t worry, just got a stomach ache for a second there… this world’s food really doesn’t do it for me.”

Sonic knew he was a terrible liar, and he knew others could tell. He was just counting on them not to talk about it. “...Alright.” Harry finally said. With a relieved smile, Sonic checked the clock. “Oh crap, we better get to class.”

Hermione glanced at the clock, her eyes widening. “Oh no! I forgot to go to the library!”

Ron and Harry stared at her a moment, then glanced at each other, shrugging. Sonic was waiting by the entrance to the Great Hall, tapping his shoe against the ground. Hermione dashed past him, but he waited for Ron and Harry to catch up. They went the opposite way of Hermione. _We’re going to the… Divination tower? I think? I hope this class isn’t as boring as the last one._

* * *

It was far worse. First off, Sonic had nearly choked when he entered the room, the perfume was so thick. The only thing that even motivated him to continue any further into the horrible stench was the thought that Shadow would have to suffer it as well. Shadow had (slightly) more powerful senses too, which meant the room would be an even worse hell for him. Sonic snickered at the thought of Shadow forced to cover his nose for the entirety of the class. Oh man, I bet he’s gonna smell like flower perfume too… Not that I don’t already.

Harry and Ron took their assigned(?) seats on two pink cushions by the window. Sonic cringed, copying their actions. He hoped he would be able to subtly air the place out by cracking that window open, or else he would positively suffocate.

Professor Trelawney was an extremely thin woman with glasses that made her eyes appear much too big for her face, and was about as mystical as a walnut. 

“Good day…” She said mistily, scaring Harry and causing him to jump. He sat ramrod straight as she waved her hands behind him, a nervous expression on his face. ‘What is she doing?’ He mouthed to Ron and Sonic. Sonic almost laughed but choked on his breath from all the incense in the room. Ron just discretely shook his head. ‘Give her a minute, mate.’ He mouthed back. Harry shakily nodded as Professor Trelawney continued channeling her ‘Inner Eye’ or something behind him. She appeared to be doing an interpretive dance of some sort, waving her arms wildly and squatting randomly while her unusually large amount of wooden beaded bracelets jangled loudly, glittering in the weak firelight. 

“You are preoccupied, my dear,” She whispered mournfully to Harry. “My inner eye sees past your brave face to the troubled soul within. And I regret to say that your worries are not baseless. I see difficult times ahead for you, alas...most difficult...I fear the thing you dread will indeed come to pass… and perhaps sooner than you think…”

Sonic couldn’t take it anymore and burst out laughing, perfumed air be damned. “Yeah, anyone can see he’s worried-” He couldn’t resist saying, “He’s worried you might hit him with all that flailing your doin’.”

Professor Trelawney stood back, regarding him stonily. Ron and Harry were clearly attempting not to follow his example, biting their lips to try and stifle their laughter. Trelawney’s voice took on a regretful tone as she regarded him with large bug-eyes. Sonic was briefly reminded of a fly. “My dear… despite your attempts to hide it, you are quite depressed. Your masks have only fooled yourself, I’m sorry to say… Yes, it is quite obvious that a great tragedy has recently occured… Will you share, my dear? Only if you’re comfortable, of course.”

Sonic listened to her words dismissively. _Masks? Me? Yeah, right._ He cast his gaze to the floor and attempted to summon fake tears. “Yeah… you’re right. My mask…it’s too hard to keep it up. My tragedy was-” He took a shuddering breath, crocodile tears glittering in his eyes. “That they didn’t have any Chili Dogs for lunch!”

Most of the class exploded with laughter, sans two girls in the corner who pointedly looked away after he finished his joke. Professor Trelawney regarded him with narrowed eyes. “Your inner eye will soon be open, my dear. It is only your first day… Yes, I suppose I can let this pass.” She sat down in a large armchair by the crackling fire. “Today class, I want to talk about how the planets can impact our inner vision…”

Harry was clearly tuning her out, and Sonic followed suit. Ron was still smiling and punched him on the shoulder gently. “Bloody brilliant mate… You should’ve come sooner.” Sonic absently nodded, desperately looking out the window. He wanted to go for a nice, long run so badly. The perfume was making his legs cramp, he was sure of it…

“ _Harry!_ ” Ron whispered loudly. Harry jerked back to attention and Sonic with him. “What?” Harry asked.

Trelawney stared at the mismatched trio disapprovingly. “I was saying, my dear, that you were clearly born under the baleful influence of Saturn,”

Harry rubbed his face with a hand. “Born under- what, sorry?” Sonic couldn’t hold in his snickers.

“Saturn, dear, the planet Saturn!” said Professor Trelawney, obviously annoyed Harry wasn’t hanging off of her every word. Sonic yawned in boredom. This class is totally the worst. “I was saying that Saturn was surely in a position of power in the heavens at the moment of your birth… Your dark hair… your mean stature… tragic losses so young in life… I think I am right in saying, my dear, that you were born in midwinter?”

“No,” said Harry, “I was born in July.”

Sonic choked on the thick air while Ron hastily turned his own laugh into a hacking cough.

They were studying the planetary charts when Sonic asked Harry, “What did she mean, tragic losses so young? What happened, Harry?”

Harry appeared taken aback by the question. “Well, er-”

Ron glanced at Harry in concern. “You alright with this, mate?

Sonic raised his hands in calmingly. “Woah, I didn’t mean to pry or anything. Ya don’t have to tell me if ya don’t want to.”

Harry shook his head as he continued scribbling nonsense into his chart. “No, no, it’s fine. It’s just… I’m used to people already knowing, so it just caught me a bit off guard, that’s all. You know how I beat Voldemort when I was only an infant?”

Sonic nodded and Ron flinched at the use of the name, shooting Harry a weak glare and hushed don’t-say-his-name! Harry continued as though he hadn’t heard him. “Well, er- My parents, he killed them.”

“Ah.” Sonic stared down at his own chart, where he was doodling nonsensical pictures of his friends. “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

“It’s fine.” Harry said dismissively. “Everybody knows anyway.”

Sonic hadn’t given much thought as to why Harry had been living with his Aunt and Uncle, but he felt terrible he hadn’t pieced it together by now. 

“Well, uh, I never knew my parents either.” Sonic said quietly. Harry watched him curiously, obviously surprised. Ron kept his head down, pretending to intensely study his chart, obviously a little uncomfortable with the conversation topic. “I don’t know what happened to them. I’ve taken care of myself for as long as I can remember.” He’d been taking care of Tails since he was what, eleven? And fighting Robotnik even longer. He’d never really had a parent figure, or even an adult he looked up to. It had just been him and his bro, doing what they did best for the longest time. _He’d_ been the adult for himself, since no one else would do it for him. _That’s probably why I’m so independent,_ He joked(?) to himself.

Harry appeared as though he remembered something, glancing curiously at Sonic. “Sonic, how old are you?”

Sonic raised a brow and continued doodling. “Fifteen.” 

Harry and Ron exchanged glances, obviously surprised. Sonic shrugged and put the last touches on what he liked to call Egg-Man. Take a guess what he was doodling (it was an egg with Eggman’s mustache drawn on in excruciating detail). Sonic wasn’t really the artsy type, but since he didn’t technically _have_ to do anything in class he continued ignoring whatever the Professor was saying in favor of working on a picture of Tails in his workshop. He and Harry remained silent for most of the rest of the class, Ron trying his best to lighten the mood with a few jokes. Unfortunately, Ron’s good intentions ended up with a Uranus joke loud enough that Trelawney heard, landing the whole class with a boatload of homework. 

Sonic was out of the classroom the instant he was able. He trotted with Harry and Ron down to the Great Hall before remembering he technically had teacher’s assistant responsibilities to attend to. He didn’t know all too many teachers, but he quickly made rounds to the two he did know. 

“Need anything, Professor Trelawney?” 

She glanced over her shoulder, clearly confused about what he was doing back in her classroom. “No, my dear, I don’t believe so… Were you sent by somebody?”

“Well, uh, Dumbles asked me to help out the teachers while me an’ Shads are staying here, so here I am. But if you don’t need me, I’ll just uh...go?”

She nodded, clearly a bit confused, though personally Sonic wondered if it was from his explanation or from the perfume in the air. He dropped down from the trapdoor, performing a somersault rather than climbing down the ladder and ran to Hagrid’s hut. 

Hagrid was also confused by his sudden appearance, but ambiably accepted Sonic’s assistance in reigning in a few loose Blast-Ended Skrewts. Sonic rounded them up before Hagrid finished his sentence, dumping them in the open crate he held out. Hagrid blinked a moment before a wide smile came across his face. “Would ya like to come in fer a cup o’ tea?” He offered.

“Sure!” Sonic nodded, crossing his arms behind his head. 

Much of the furniture in Hagrid’s hut was large human-sized, so Sonic just settled for hopping onto the table. He gladly took the steaming mug and sipped. He was feeling thirsty after all the powerful scents in Professor Trelawney’s room. 

“What brings a feller like you to Hogwarts, if you don’t mind me askin’?”

“Oh, I guess Professor Dumbledore hasn’t told all the Professors yet. I think he’s supposed to call a meeting soon to tell you guys. Long story short, me and my friend are looking for a really powerful gem. We don’t know when or where it’s gonna appear, but it’s basically our ticket home.”

Hagrid nodded. His dog, a large black mutt of some sort, came over and began to lick Sonic’s leg. “Hey!”

Hagrid smiled. “Aw, Fang’s just bein’ nice. He won’t bite ya.”

Sonic watched the dog curiously. Most Mobian dogs loved to be pet, even if it was considered demeaning in some parts of this world. Then again, this wasn’t Mobius. He reached down and Fang pushed his head up into his hand. Sonic laughed and hopped down from the table to be able to scratch him better. Fang began licking his face and Sonic had to put his tea up onto the table so he wouldn’t spill it. Hagrid watched the scene fondly, before asking, “So, er- I don’t want to be insensitive or nothin’, but are you an’ your friend- Are ya really half-breeds?” If Sonic wasn’t mistaken, he could’ve sworn Hagrid sounded hopeful. He sort of felt bad telling him, “Nah. Me and Shads are fully Mobian. Well, I guess you could maybe call us half-breeds, since Mobian genes are really weird, and Shadow’s genes are actually more messed up than mine, but uh- No, in this world, I don’t think we’re supposed to be half-breeds.”

“Oh, I see.” Hagrid said. He was definitely disappointed. Sonic tactfully changed the topic of the conversation. “So uh, Care of Magical Creatures. How’d you become a Professor for that?”

Hagrid sat up excitedly and Sonic was glad he was able to chase away whatever had him upset. He clearly loved his job. “I’ve found magical creatures so fascinatin’ my whole life. It started when I was a boy and I found this injured Griffin-”

Sonic stayed with Hagrid for a few more hours, keeping him company until the sun went down. Hagrid noticed the time after Sonic started yawning and sent him up to the castle for curfew. “As much as I loved chattin’ with ya, I don’ want Professor Dumbledore gettin’ mad. Off to bed with ya.”

Sonic waved cheerfully as he departed, already up to the castle gates by the time Hagrid thought to wave back. Sonic paused a moment, holding up his index finger, and Hagrid watched him do a couple loops around the castle, nothing but a streak of blue. After a few minutes Sonic held up a thumbs-up and Hagrid gave him one in return. Despite his earlier disappointment, Hagrid found himself in better spirits after Sonic had left. 

_I hope that little fella visits more often,_ he thought to himself, sitting down at his table. _He’s good company._

Hagrid missed Harry, Ron, and Hermione as well, and hoped they would soon make time to come by and chat for a bit. _This year is definitely gonna be an interesting one_ , he thought, unknowingly mimicking Dumbledore’s reaction to the hedgehogs from earlier that day.

Hogwarts wouldn’t know what hit it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...yeah. Sonic and Shadow meet Dumbledore, Sonic is legally required to chill with the Professors and make friends, Shadow is stuck with Malfoy in his class, and a whole lot of logistics and recap. I'm at least happy I have more of Sonic/Golden Trio interactions. This story is turning into more a character study piece than I originally thought, but you know what? I like character studies. Please let me know about any continuity errors because I'm trying very hard to keep this mess of a story straight. As always, thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day :)
> 
> P.S. Yes, I am aware of Uncle Chuck, but given that this is pretty much a games-only crossover, he's not gonna be mentioned. Sorry folks. I'll probably only be mentioning other Sonic canons for humorous purposes.


	11. New Leads, Curses, and Classes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadow goes to classes, Hermione frets about House-Elves, and Harry dreams. What else is new?
> 
> Note: The timeline got a little confusing in this chapter, so I just stuck a few timestamps in to keep it all straight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a month long wait, Chapter 11 is written! I hit a serious case of writer's block for the beginning of the chapter, but after everything I think this chapter actually turned out alright. Hope you enjoy!

Shadow quickly fell into his new routine of classes. It wasn’t anything much different from his training aboard the Ark, besides the obvious fact they were dealing with magic. However, as he discovered on Thursday, that small fact had major consequences. 

Shadow entered Moody’s Defense Against the Dark Arts with little enthusiasm. Although he would reluctantly admit he liked (or was at least moderately interested in) the subjects taught at Hogwarts, he had little to no idea what to expect for this class. In every other classroom, he had borrowed the standard textbook corresponding to the subject for fourth year since it seemed Dumbledore had no plans to buy him any, but because the Professor hadn’t arrived yet to tell him where it was he was left with an empty desk while the rest of the Slytherins were eagerly paging through their own books, trying to predict what in the world the subject for today’s class could be, especially considering their… eccentric teacher.. There had been rumors flying around at breakfast, lunch and dinner for the past three days that this class was supposed to be incredible.

The sound of wood knocking the floor echoed in the classroom and the students fell quiet as Moody made his entrance. His odd electric-blue eye roved the students suspiciously, and he narrowed his eyes when his gaze finally landed on Shadow. Shadow stared back solemnly, unaffected by the glare that would probably be intimidating to anyone else. Moody (with much effort, it seemed) tore his eye away from Shadow and stomped to the front of the class, gnarled hands clenched by his sides. He turned around, hunched, and began searching through the contents of a trunk behind the desk Shadow hadn’t noticed before. The class was quiet for a moment, before the whispered gossip began. Moody didn’t like that.

He slammed his hands on the desk so hard the legs buckled. Nearly all the students were scared out of their seats. “CONSTANT VIGILANCE!” He barked.

Shadow forced his quills to lie flat and pulled on a mask of indifference. _I already don’t like him._ Moody narrowed his good eye at the students, the magical one spinning wildly within its socket, before returning to his search. Now the class was dead quiet, either still recovering from being scared out of their wits or, most likely, simply dumbfounded. Moody finally found what he was searching for, and on the table he plopped a jar of spiders. Shadow’s brow rose involuntarily. “Put the books away,” Moody said in his low growl, “You won’t be needing them for this class.”

“Are you serious?!” Malfoy questioned disbelievingly. 

Moody glared at him. “I’d advise you to keep your mouth shut, boy, so I can continue the class.” 

Malfoy, cowed, shrunk into his seat. Moody cleared his throat. “Now then…” He took out a register, “Anna, Mary?” Attendance continued in much the same fashion. Shadow nearly groaned. _Is this seriously what I have to do to investigate?_

Moody paused. “T. Hedgehog, Shadow?” Snickers were heard throughout the classroom, but one fiery glare from Shadow silenced them. “Present.” He finally replied. 

After calling Zabini, Moody rolled up the registers and magicked it to whoever was in charge of such menial things. Then, he placed his hands behind his back and began pacing the room, peg leg thumping loudly on the stone floor and resonating throughout the tension-filled silence of the classroom. Finally, Moody spoke. 

“Who can tell me about the Unforgivable Curses?”

Not many students know. Surprisingly, Malfoy’s hand was up, but that was it. Moody, obviously surprised, narrowed his eyes and stomped over to Malfoy, towering over him. Malfoy kept his composure, though Shadow was 80% sure there was a jumpy tick by his eye. 

“Yes?” Moody growled.

“The Imperious Curse.” Malfoy said proudly. “You use it to control people.”

Moody snorted. “You would know, wouldn’t you? Your father was _awfully_ involved in that mess.” Malfoy, for the briefest of moments, appeared upset at the slight, but regained his composure and tried to remain stone faced. Shadow tilted his head. _Interesting._ He remembered Lucius Malfoy from the World Cup. _Perhaps he’s involved in nastier business than House-Elf abuse and elitism?_

Moody resumed his slow pacing at the front of the class. “But yes, the Imperius Curse _is_ one of the Unforgivable Curses. Malfoy correctly explained its purpose. Now, a demonstration.”

Moody unscrewed the top of the jar, pointing his wand inside and casting, “Engorgio.” One of the spiders swelled to nearly triple its size in less than a second. Shadow grimaced. 

Moody scooped out the spider and dropped it onto his desk, where it began flailing wildly to right itself, skittering fearfully around the large empty desk once it did. Shadow felt the smallest bit bad for it. Moody turned his head and met the eyes of the students. “Watch closely. _Imperio!_ ”

The spider stopped. It trembled in place, but did not move. Shadow thought it hardly seemed to be alive. Moody jerked his wand to the right, and the spider followed immediately. He jerked it to the left, and the spider mimicked that as well. Moody continued waving his wand this way and that while the spider desperately tried to keep up, but he turned his face to the class to continue teaching. “What I’m doing now is called ‘direct control’. Unfortunately, most wizards who use the Imperius Curse choose not to use this method, because it’s easily traceable. Using the ‘indirect control’ method, the Imperius Curse allows the caster to implant commands into the victims head. It could be a sleeper or trigger command, or they could be using it to search for information. Watch closely.”

Moody pointed at the spider. “Spiders are not capable of higher thought, but this one will do its best to fulfill my commands, even if it means death. The last part applies to wizards as well.” Many students in the room gulped, though Shadow was watching with rapt attention. _Attending these classes wasn’t a terrible idea after all._

“Cartwheel after three seconds.” Moody commanded. The spider paused for three seconds (Shadow counted carefully), and complied. “That was a sleeper command, which are all timed commands. This next one is a trigger command. That means that when the spider, or in the real world, the wizard, encounters a trigger, be it a word, phrase, or person, the Imperius command will activate.”

Moody once again pointed at the spider. “When I say ‘Foxtrot’,” he growled to it, “Jump off the desk.”

Moody retreated his wand, and almost like nothing had happened, the spider began to skitter around once again. Shadow narrowed his eyes. “FOXTROT!” Moody barked.

The spider stopped what it was doing and ran full speed off the side of the desk, landing in front of a rather shocked Crabbe. Moody scooped up the spider, muttered a spell, and reduced it to its previous size before placing it back in the jar.

Moody began his stomping once again. “The Imperius Curse allows for the caster to maintain _ABSOLUTE_ control over the wizard they have cast it on. There are other commands, and ways you can identify those affected, but that’s for another lesson. I will be teaching you how to defend yourself against it at a later time. Does anybody know the other two Unforgivable Curses?”

Shadow raised his hand. Moody seemed surprised. “Hedgehog?” 

Shadow crossed his arms. “I don’t know the other two, but I have a question. When inflicted with the Imperius Curse, does the victim have knowledge of it? And, if they do not, can I presume they go on with their daily lives without knowing?” 

Moody nodded. “Correct. The victims are not aware they have been inflicted with the Imperius Curse, and will continue with their normal lives until a command kicks in. That’s part of the reason the Ministry has had so much trouble with it. Back to _my_ question, then. Anybody?”

No more hands raised. Shadow was still processing the overload of information, but he would admit he was far from bored. Moody nodded at the lack of response. “Thought not, you’re only fourth years after all. First, we have the Cruciatus Curse, or the torture curse. The Cruciatus Curse causes blinding pain and can lead to insanity.” He pulled out another spider, enlarged it, and demonstrated with a, “ _Crucio!_ ” The spider squealed, legs twisting upon itself and writhing in agony. Shadow winced and closed his eyes, struggling to keep up his mask. He didn’t enjoy seeing torture, not even against the most awful of criminals. Quick deaths were better.

Moody once again reduced the spider and replaced it with the last one in the jar. The last spider stood completely still, as though it knew what was coming next. “The last Curse,” Moody said gravely, “Is the Killing Curse.”

“ _Avada Kedavra!_ ” The spider went still, and blip appeared on Shadow’s chaos radar. _What?_

Moody took a swig of his hip-flask. “The Killing Curse kills silently and is always fatal. Nobody is quite sure what it does, exactly, but we know that it is the most commonly used method of homicide in Great Britain, within wizarding communities at least. The Unforgivable Curses are just that: unforgivable. Anybody who performs one on a fellow human, even a Muggle, is given life in Azkaban. If you’re lucky. There are no counter curses.”

Zabini raised his hand. “If there’s no counter curses, why are we learning them?”

Moody stomped over to him, looming. “Because you’ve got to know. This is what you will be up against. These are the kinds of moves your enemies will perform. What I’m trying to teach you is _constant, never-ending, VIGILANCE_ !” The last word boomed throughout the silent classroom. Zabini swallowed. Shadow, for one, was immensely glad to know that these existed and could be used against him. He was probably fast enough to avoid them, but devising a good counter strategy would be essential for survival in this world. _I also have to look into just what happened with the Killing Curse. Magic and chaos energy… I’ll speak to Sonic about it._

A bell tolled, echoing loudly. Moody crossed his arms. “Dismissed.” 

Shadow rolled over the information in his head. _There’s still so much I need to know... This world is perhaps more dangerous than I thought._

Lost in thought, he didn’t notice the exchanged glances behind him.

* * *

Shadow limped into the Great Hall, hopefully not noticeably injured from his run-in last night. A bright blue coat caught his eyes and he crossed his arms as a hyperactive hedgehog rushed over, leaving a streak of blue in the sea of students. Most of them blinked and moved on, but a couple dropped their breakfast trays in shock, still unused to the two odd visitors.

“What’s up, Shads?” Sonic greeted cheerfully. After what had transpired last night, Shadow was actually somewhat grateful for his optimism. Today was Friday, two days after Moody’s lesson and approximately six hours after Crabbe and Goyle had tried to jump him. Shadow noticed Sonic watching him, eyes somewhat narrowed. “Is that a bruise?”

Shadow grunted. “Nothing to worry about. Malfoy’s minions jumped me, but… well, the hospital wing is a little fuller.” He chuckled darkly, running a hand distractedly through his quills. “I’m half waiting to get expelled.”

Sonic tucked his arms behind his head. “Aw, c’mon Shads. They’re totally not gonna expel you for that! Nobody likes Malfoy!” The Slytherin table heard his too-loud remark and glared.

Shadow observed his human ‘housemates’, before turning to Sonic and raising a brow. “Really? You think so? Our position here is already precarious enough, and I just happen to give a black eye to the friend of the son of one of the most influential families of the wizarding world, and you’re saying I have nothing to worry about?”

Sonic grinned. “Pre-cisely.”

Shadow felt the urge for a small smile to creep onto his face despite his looming despair. “Sonic, I don’t think I will ever understand you.”

Sonic shrugged. “Not much to understand. Malfoy’s goons were being jerks and you showed ‘em who’s in charge. Just explain it to Dumbles, and I’m sure everything will be fine.”

Shadow sighed softly, shaking his head. “We’ll see.” _I may have just lost us our best chance at going home._

They arrived at the Great Hall, which was positively packed with chattering students tearing open mail or stuffing their faces. Surprisingly, rather than go sit with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, Sonic stuck with Shadow to the Slytherin table. Shadow studied him curiously out of the corner of his eye. “You a stalker now, faker?”

Sonic laughed. “Nah, that’s Amy’s job. I already ran down to kitchens to make my breakfast, plus Harry and the others seem like they have stuff to discuss… without me.”

Shadow noticed the pause but didn’t comment. “Fine by me. Just stay away from my food, faker.” He knew that probably wasn’t _all_ of Sonic’s reasoning, but Shadow wasn’t going to admit he was feeling shitty today and Sonic probably knew he needed something familiar right about now. “You’ve been to Moody’s class, correct?”

Sonic nodded, lounging with his legs crossed. A wicked grin suddenly spread across his face, and he ran down to a bowl of grapes on the end of the table, grabbing it and beginning a game of flick-the-grape at Malfoy. Sonic was quickly distracted and didn’t appear to hear his question, so Shadow took the liberty of working off some frustration and kicking him under the table. _Hard._

Sonic winced and Shadow smirked. “Ouch,” he hissed, shaking his now bruised leg out. “What was that for?!” He whispered angrily. The Slytherins were letting them sit in peace for now, but who knew how long that would last?

Rather than answering, Shadow said, “I asked if you’ve been to Moody’s class, faker.”

Sonic was once again easily distracted, and forgot his annoyance quickly. “Oh yeah, him! His class was… kind of intense, honestly.” He chuckled nervously, “It’s a little freaky how wizards can just… kill something like that. Or torture it. Or control it.” He shifted uncomfortably. “Makes me kind of grateful we don’t have magic on Mobius, y’know?”

Shadow nodded. “I’ve been going to the library to try and figure out ways to counter the Curses, but as Moody said, there weren’t any. I’ve considered pure chaos energy as a method, but I’ll need to look further into it.” Shadow shook his head. “But that’s not what I want to talk about. Did you notice anything strange about the killing curse?”

Sonic nodded. “Yeah, it was like a weird little spike in chaos energy. I can’t really control it like you, but I can sense it pretty well.”

“Yes, that happened with me as well,” Shadow explained, “So I want to try and figure it out.”

Despite himself, Sonic appeared to be eyeing the bacon. “Well, let’s think about it. Instead of there being free chaos energy here, it’s basically embedded in the wizards, right? Wizards kind of use chaos control, don’t they? At least when doing a spell. So…” Sonic flicked yet another grape at Malfoy, who jumped and glared around the table, “The Killing Curse is aiming to kill. Well, obviously.” Sonic’s leg started tapping the floor rapidly while he worked it out. “And to kill someone, you’ve gotta get rid of all of their Chaos Energy. But, when you get rid of it, where does it go? It’s not gonna disappear. So maybe... the expulsed Chaos Energy showed up on our ‘radars’ because it became part of the environment?”

Shadow blinked. “I cannot believe you actually said something intelligent.”

Sonic pouted, glaring. “Hey! I say smart stuff all the time!” Shadow raised an eyebrow, but considered Sonic’s proposition. 

_The Killing Curse, or the complete expulsion of Chaos Energy from the body._ It made sense. Mobians had much more inner Chaos Energy than wizards, and even then, many drew energy they lacked from the abundant supply in the world around them (courtesy of the emeralds, of course). In this world, their inner Chaos Energy was all the wizards had. If they lost it, they would be done for. This world had none to spare, and so the expulsion of chaos energy was seeped into the environment, or perhaps found a home in a wizard or two.

Shadow shook his head in disbelief. “I still can’t believe you figured that out before I did.”

Sonic shrugged, though a pleased smile was on his face. “What can I say? I am the Hero of Mobius.” The bell chimed, signalling their first classes to start. Shadow shook his head. “I can vow intelligence had nothing to do with that.”

Sonic sat upright, offended. “Hey!”

* * *

 **Sometime, Someplace** **  
**_The sapphire gemstone glittered in the weak morning light filtering through the trees. Waves of blue seemed to give the gem endless beauty, or maybe it was waves of something else. Power. It undulated through the woods, washing through trees, bushes, and finally, near the end of its journey, an old, dilapidated house._

_Wormtail, slimy and sniveling though he was, still noticed. He stole a glance to the chair in the middle of the dark, unilluminated sitting room. A terrible noise was coming from the chair, and the dying embers of the fire weren’t bright enough to spark his bravery. The noise continued, weak at first, but slowly growing in its volume and awfulness._

_“Wormtail…” The voice wheezed, like a sick, cold, baby, “Find it.”_

_I felt it too. The energy in the air, free and dangerous and intoxicating. I slithered to the foot of Master’s chair and rose, carefully placing my head to his lap. A cold, white finger traced a dark, intricate pattern on the top of my scaled head. Wormtail had long since scampered off to search, leaving the Master and I in each other’s company._

_“How curious,” he finally continued, “I don’t remember inviting you.”_

* * *

**Thursday Night**

Harry woke from his nightmare in a cold sweat. That was the second time this month he had a dream of such things. He unconsciously raised a hand to his damp forehead, tracing his burning scar. He winced as his fingers brushed a particularly sensitive spot, and he limply lowered his hand back to the bed cover. Breathe. In, out, in, out. It was just a dream… or was it?

Harry shifted and rolled over, simultaneously exhausted and craving sleep yet afraid and fearful of what would happen if he let his consciousness slip. _Should I tell Sirius?_ He wondered. He had already written to Sirius about the first dream, but the response he received earlier in the evening from Sirius’ about flying back to him had Harry worried for his godfather’s already precarious safety. He was afraid that alerting him to this new dream would simply cause his godfather to throw caution to wind and barge into Hogwarts to come see him. More than anything, he loathed the idea of Sirius getting captured and thrown back into Azkaban, especially since he had only just escaped. Already the fear and anxiety of the dream was leaving Harry, and he had already forgotten what it was about. _There was Voldemort, and Wormtail, and…_ Harry shook his head. _I don’t remember._

His worries slowly leaving him, he felt his confidence trickle back in and put him at ease. Truly, there was no need to alert Sirius. Nothing much had happened, except for a few strange dreams and… he glanced over to Sonic’s bed, the small shape and jutting quills illuminating his outline in the moonlight. He had told Sirius in his first letter, of course, about the two beings from a strange world, but had only been as specific as ‘ an odd spiky little visitor’, seeing as he had only just met the first member of the strange duo. Harry sighed. This year was simply _weird_. 

After another half-hour of tossing and turning, he climbed out of bed and decided to write a new letter to Sirius assuring him everything was alright, and that he had nothing to worry about, and that he should just stay safe where he is and most definitely _not_ come to Hogwarts. A dream is only a dream, after all, and Sonic and Shadow had so far proven themselves to be harmless (not to mention every time they showed up Malfoy, Harry was finding himself more and more unable to keep his guard up).

Wiping the ink from his hand and extinguishing his Lumos, Harry quietly slid the letter into his trunk and climbed back in bed. He was looking forward to the next couple of weeks. He would, of course, tell Ron and Hermione about the dream, or what he remembered of it, but he wasn’t sure if he should even reveal the dream to Sonic and Shadow. Despite everything they had done to prove otherwise, Harry was still suspicious, especially after everything with Wormtail last year. Sonic had fought the Death Eaters, but still… Harry felt bad about keeping it from them, but he wasn’t going to be swayed easily. Nobody got a free pass when it came to scrutiny from the Golden Trio.

Harry delivered his letter to Hedwig the next morning before sending her off to find Sirius again. She hooted in annoyance at his apparent ingratitude for her long flights, but a couple owl treats, along with the threat to use Pigwedgeon instead, finally swayed her. She nipped him affectionately before flying off. Harry wondered when he would see her again.

At breakfast, he told Ron and Hermione of the strange dream last night. Prior to that, Hermione was staring angrily at the food in front of her, apparently still peeved over the House-Elves in the kitchen. 

“Food is food, Hermione,” he tried. She huffed, and Ron followed with, “Yeah, ‘mione, just eat or you won’t be able to focus during classes today.”

Hermione violently pushed her plate away, causing Ron and Harry to exchange glances. _Girls_.

“Anyway,” Harry began, “I had another… _dream_ last night. I already wrote to Sirius and told him not to worry, but-“

“Harry!” Hermione exclaimed, “He _should_ worry! These dreams could be serious!”

Harry shook his head. “Well, I just don’t want him to get into any trouble-“

“But Harry, you should really tell someone about this, maybe even Professor Dumbledore-“ Hermione interrupted.

Harry sighed. “No, listen, at least let me explain it first.”

After he finished his description of Voldemort (Ron winced) and Wormtail, they began thinking it over and trying to interpret it, and what it could possibly mean.

“So,” Ron tried, “You-Know-Who sent Scabbers- I mean Wormtail, out to try and fine something?”

Harry shot a glance towards Sonic and Shadow’s direction to make sure they weren’t eavesdropping. “...Yeah,” He finally answered Ron distractedly. He couldn’t help but stifle a laugh at Sonic’s antics. It appeared he and Shadow were having a serious discussion of their own, but Sonic was hosting a minor food fight with Malfoy on the side, much to Shadow’s annoyance. 

Harry turned back to his friends. “The only problem is, I don’t remember what exactly they were looking for.”

“But Harry, if You-Know-Who is looking for it, then it _must_ be important,” Hermione replied, confused.

Harry shook his head. “I know. Let me think about it for a minute…” He struggled to recall the events of the dream, digging through his mind to drag up the memories. “I was… something else. I think Vol-” noticing Ron’s flinch, Harry corrected himself, “ _You-Know-Who_ sensed something. I sort of sensed it too, while I was there. It was like there was this whole other presence besides him, almost like it was sort of sending huge waves crashing against the room we were in. It was… I dunno. Just that powerful.” 

Ron and Hermione exchanged glances, frowning. Harry shook his head again. “That’s all I remember.” He finished regretfully. Ron patted him on the back. “That’s alright mate, I’m sure we’ll figure it out-”

Hermione shot up in her seat, clearly having an epiphany. “Harry, did you say powerful?”

Harry nodded, confused. Hermione nodded as well, thinking things over in her quick and logical way. “Well, if You-Know-Who is starting to search for something that powerful, and Shadow and Sonic are also looking for a powerful object that they lost, how likely do you think it is that they’re one and the same?”

Ron’s eyes widened and he turned to Hermione. “You really are a genius, you know that?” Hermione blushed.

Harry stared at her, dumbfounded. _How come I didn’t think of that?_ He wondered sourly. “You’re probably right,” he finally responded, “Voldemort is looking for that Chaos Emerald.”

* * *

_Harry, Ron, and Hermione disagreed on whether to tell the two hedgehogs._

_“What if they’re working for Voldemort?” Harry asked, though his heart wasn’t in it. He couldn’t bring himself to actually distrust them, or at least still be suspicious of Sonic. He had defended Harry against the Dursleys, fought off the Death Eaters at the World Cup, and been nothing but kind (and perhaps a bit cheeky) to everyone he met._

_“I don’t think You-Know-Who would even want somebody as chipper as Sonic to work for him,” Ron countered, grinning, “It would be a nightmare trying to keep him under control.”_

_Hermione looked away and crossed her arms. “I trust Shadow,” she added quietly, “He’s scared off Malfoy, and he stood up for me in the woods at the World Cup.” She met Harry and Ron’s eyes, resolute. “He can’t possibly be a bad person.”_

_Harry sighed, defeated. “Well, alright then. When are we going to tell them?”_

_Ron scratched his head. “Whenever the time’s right, I suppose.”_

_“Works for me.” Harry looked at them gratefully. “Thank you.” For what, he wasn’t sure. Most likely simply for being there for him._

_Ron and Hermione exchanged glances again, grinning. “Don’t mention it.”_

* * *

The next couple of weeks passed in a calm haze. Sonic had trouble sitting still in classes, and usually ended up excusing himself for ‘medical purposes’ (a code for running, Harry suspected), but he did seem to be enjoying himself. He was endlessly amused with magic, and at night in the Common Room, would ask Hermione, who usually had her homework finished, to cast an array of spells. If Harry had to guess, he would say that was Sonic’s favorite part of the day. Sonic’s after-school activities, which consisted of basically being a courier for teachers or helping them clean up after class, didn’t seem to bother him, and he took everything in stride and with a smile.

Shadow was elusive, but Hermione claimed to have seen him studying in the library, and they apparently did joint study sessions together (watching Ron’s face as she said that had nearly sent Harry into a fit of laughter). Shadow was apparently interested in Magical Theory, and would usually skip lunch to go read about it. When he did show up, Sonic would siddle over to the Slytherin table to annoy either him or the rest of the students. Personally, Harry thought it was both. 

Of course, everyone’s favorite part of the week were Moody’s classes. They were endlessly interesting and informative, a combination Harry had thought was impossible for teachers to pull off. It was also one of the only classes that Sonic seemed to pay attention to. 

It was in one of these classes that Moody decided to round back to his lessons on the Unforgivable Curses. He announced that he would be putting the Imperius Curse on each and every one of them, to test their will and their resistance against it.

“B-but Professor!” Hermione stuttered uncertainly, hand in the air, “Isn’t that illegal?”

Moody didn’t answer, clearing the desks in the center of the room, leaving a wide clearing for whatever he was going to do with them.

“You said- to use it against another human was-” 

“Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like,” said Moody, his magical eye swiveling to Hemione and fixing her with an unblinking stare. Hermione swallowed. “If you’d rather learn the hard way - when someone’s putting it on you so they can control you completely- fine by me. You’re excused. Off you go.”

He pointed one gnarled finger to the door of the class. Hermione went very pink and muttered something about not meaning that she wanted to leave. Harry and Ron grinned at each other. Hermione would rather eat bubotuber puss than miss such an important lesson. 

In fact, the only person who seemed to want to leave was Sonic, who had his legs crossed on top of the desk and was frowning sourly. Harry knew he would stay, though. Anything like the Imperius Curse, which claimed complete control, was bound to intrigue yet frighten someone like him. 

One by one, Harry’s classmates were called up and made to do the most extraordinary things. Dean Thomas was made to hop around the room three times while singing the national anthem. Lavender Brown flawlessly imitated a squirrel. Neville was forced to perform a series of astonishing gymnastics he would certainly not have been capable of in his normal state.

“Hedgehog, you’re up next.”

Sonic strode forward confidently, quills slightly bristling. His hands were lightly clenched at his sides. Moody gave him an appraising eye, but treated him no different from the rest of his students.

“ _Imperio_!” 

Instantly, Harry noticed something different about Sonic’s eyes. They were no longer the usual bright emerald green, a certain spark of something extinguished while under the effects of the spell. 

“Do a handstand,” Moody commanded.

Sonic didn’t seem to be able to resist the effects of the spell, and he slowly reached his hands to the floor. He froze for a moment, his gloved hands flexing, until all at once the spell seemed to shatter and Sonic launched into a breakdance instead of a handstand. He spun this way and that, until he twirled with just enough momentum to land him back on his feet, a smirk on his face as he met Professor Moody’s eyes.

Moody nodded. “Impressive, though we need to account for magical resistance due to your… species.” Sonic shrugged, stretching and hopping on top of the nearest desk to watch the rest of the lesson.

A few more of his classmates went before Moody called on Harry. He was nervous, no doubt about that, but after seeing Sonic’s display he felt a previously unknown shallow well of confidence inside him. _I can do this._

“ _Imperio_!”

Harry felt his will buckled under the force of the spell. It was an irresistible call, tempting for no reason at all but completely enticing nonetheless. 

_Jump onto the desk_ , a voice in his head seemed to say. _Jump onto the desk… jump onto the desk..._

Harry bent his knees obediently preparing to spring.

_Jump onto the desk…_

_But why?_ Another voice in his head piped up, _Stupid thing to do, really._

_Jump onto the desk…_

_No, I don’t think I will_ , the voice responded, a little more firmly, _no, I really don’t want to..._

_JUMP! NOW!_

The next thing Harry felt was considerable pain. He had both jumped and tried to prevent himself from jumping, resulting in him smashing headlong into the desk, knocking it over, and by the feeling of it, smashing both of his kneecaps.

Sonic was rolling with laughter, and glancing dazedly at Ron and Hermione, Harry saw they were both hiding giggles of their own. He lay there, trying to blink away the fog from his mind, until all at once, it vanished.

“Look at that, you lot!” Moody shouted proudly, “Potter fought! He fought it, and he damn near beat it! We’ll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention- yes, even you, Mr. Hedgehog - watch his eyes, that’s where you’ll see it - very good Potter, very good indeed!”

After a few more silly commands and a whole lot of pain, class finally ended. Harry hobbled down the hallways leaning on Ron for support. “The way he talks-” Harry mumbled under his breath, “You’d think we were all going to be attacked any second.”

“Well, look on the bright side, at least you can throw off that thing.” Sonic pointed out.

Harry grit his teeth. “That’s well and good for you, pulling it off the first time. You don’t understand my pain.”

Sonic and Ron laughed, while Hermione smiled faintly. She was preoccupied with something. 

“Talk about paranoid,” Ron muttered, glancing nervously behind him to check Moody was out of earshot. He was skipping every alternate step, having had much more difficulty with the curse than Harry had. Moody had assured him the effects would wear off by lunch time. “No wonder they were glad to get a shot of him at the Ministry. Did you hear him telling Seamus about what he did to that witch who shouted ‘Boo’ behind him on April Fool’s Day? Scary stuff. And when are we supposed to be learning to fight off the Imperius Curse anyway?”

All of the fourth years had noticed the definite increase in workload this term. Long nights were spent working on Potions or Divination instead of sleeping, something Sonic took every opportunity to tease them about. Professor McGonagall had explained that the O.W.L.’s were drawing near, after a particularly loud groan at the amount of Transfiguration homework they had been assigned. Despite the fact they were a whole year away, she remained adamant the class start preparing now, since everyone’s work was so abysmal in its current state that she was sure they would never pass.

Harry and Ron were deeply amused when Professor Trelawney read out their disastrous predictions to the class, commending them for their unflinching acceptance of disaster, but became less so when she asked them to do the same thing for next month. Thankfully, Sonic had offered to relay some of his more wild adventures, and Harry was planning on taking him up on that. Killer robots would surely impress Professor Trelawney.

Binns had them writing essays every week on the Goblin Wars, and Snape had them researching antidotes, something they all took seriously due to his not-so-subtle hint he may poison them to test their proficiency. Flitwick had them read three extra book on Summoning Charms, and overall Harry was pretty much drowning in schoolwork.

The group arrived at the entrance hall but were unable to proceed further due to the large crowd blocking the way.

“Hey, hoist me up!” Sonic tugged on Harry’s robe. Harry complied, leaning down so Sonic could easily swing himself up on his neck. He was surprisingly light.

“Triwizard Tournament,” Sonic read, “The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstang will be arriving at 6 o’clock on Friday the 30th of October- hey, that’s next week! - Lessons will end half an hour early-”

“Brilliant!” Harry said, “It’s Potions last thing on Friday! Snape won’t have time to poison us all!”

Sonic gently swatted him and stuck his tongue out. “Let me finish! Students will return their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests before The Welcoming Feast.”

He jumped down lightly, but nearly crashed into Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff before his feet touched the ground. “Wotcher, Sonic,” Ernie said. He apparently didn’t want to stick around long, since he didn’t stay to hear the answer and instead wandered off looking for Cedric Diggory.

They watched him go before continuing their way into the Great Hall for lunch, where Hermione excused herself to run to the library yet again.

Sonic idly tapped the table. “Wonder what she’s doing in there?”

Ron shrugged helplessly. “House-Elf things, if I had to guess.”

Sonic perked up, “Really?”

Ron glanced at him warily. “Weren’t you into that too?”

Sonic shrugged, “Well, when I go down to make my food, I chat with them a bit. They all seem really happy to work, even with no pay, and they got offended when I started cooking my own stuff. I’m not gonna stop that, since it doesn’t really feel right to just take from them, but I’m not gonna go against what they want, even if I think freedom is better. It’s whatever makes you happy, you know?”

Harry stared at him, but Sonic didn’t meet his eyes. He obviously wasn’t completely okay with the House-Elf situation, but he seemed to have reached a fairly solid conclusion for now. Finally, Ron responded with, “Tell that to Hermione.”

* * *

Over the course of the next week, there was a tangible change in the air. Nobody seemed to want to talk about anything but the Triwizard Tournament. The castle was cleaner than ever, the suits of armor well polished, the stone floors shining with not even a speck of dirt upon them, and even the normally wily staircases and paintings seemed to be behaving themselves.

On the morning of October the thirtieth, they found that the Great Hall had been decorated overnight. Enormous silk banners hung from the walls, each of them representing a Hogwarts House: red with a gold lion for Gryffindor, blue with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin. Behind the teachers’ table, the largest banner of all bore the Hogwarts coat of arms: lion, eagle, badger, and snake united around a large letter H.

Fred and George were complaining about missing money when Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down for breakfast. Sonic was sitting with Shadow, his only company in the five foot berth the Slytherins had taken to giving him, and most likely annoying him to death given how Shadow’s hand was drifting closer and closer to the knife the more Sonic talked.

The missing money was Ludo Bagman’s from the World Cup, since he had lost the bet to Fred and George. The galleons he had given them there turned out to be Leprechaun gold, and had all disappeared a couple weeks ago. They were bummed about it, and were scheming up a way to get him to pay up. The conversation soon turned to the champions of the Triwizard Tournament, which had yet to be announced. All of the teachers had been tight-lipped and avoidant, which caused Fred and George to suspect there was a big announcement coming soon.

“Wonder what the talks are going to be?” Ron said thoughtfully, “You know, I bet we could do them, Harry. We’ve done dangerous stuff before…”

“Not in front of a panel of judges, you haven’t,” Fred countered, “McGonagall says the champions get awarded points according to how well they’ve done the tasks.”

“Who are the judges?” Harry asked.

“Well, the Heads of the participating schools are always on the panel,” Hermione informed him, “because all three of them were injured during the Tournament of 1792, when a cockatrice the champions were supposed to be catching went on a rampage.”

She noticed them all looking at her in surprise, and with her usual impatience at them for not having read the books she had, she huffed, “It’s all in _Hogwarts, a History_ . Though, of course, that book’s not _entirely_ reliable. _A_ Revised _History of Hogwarts_ would be a more accurate title. Or _A Highly Biased and_ Selective _History of Hogwarts_ , _Which Glosses Over the Nastier Aspects of the School_.”

“What are you on about?” Ron asked, though Harry suspected he knew where this was going.

“House-Elfs!” Hermione exploded, “ _Hogwarts, a History_ says nothing about how the school supports _slavery-_ ”

“What’s goin’ on here?” A familiar voice asked curiously.

“Hermione’s on one of her tangents again,” Ron waved dismissively.

“I am _not_!” Hermione slammed her hands onto the table, “Just because you don’t care, Ronald, doesn’t mean there aren’t those of us who-”

“Wait, Hermione, that’s what this is about?” Sonic asked, brow raised, “Have you even talked to them about what _they_ want?”

Hermione crossed her arms. “I know what they want. Freedom.”

“Now wait, Hermione,” Sonic raised his hands placatingly, “How about I take you down to the kitchens so you can talk to a couple-”

Hermione replied hotly, “Sonic, really? You think they actually _want_ to be slaves to wizards? They’re uneducated and brainwashed-” before she could continue, there was a great whooshing noise above their head as the morning mail came in. Harry spotted Hedwig’s spotten white coat and pet under her chin as she arrived.

Tied to her leg was a letter from Sirius, which read:

_Nice try, harry._ _  
__I’m back in the country and well hidden. I want you to keep me posted on everything that’s going on at Hogwarts. Don’t use Hedwig, keep changing owls, and don’t worry about me, just watch out for yourself._

_Sirius_

“Why do you have to keep changing owls?” Ron asked in a low voice.

“Hedwig will attract too much attention,” Hermione whispered back, “I mean, snowy owls. They’re not exactly native, are they?”

It was at this moment Harry noticed Sonic munching happily on his self-cooked plate of burnt bacon beside him, and became acutely aware that he had still not told the hedgehog duo about his dream. 

“Sonic, listen,” Harry said, “We’ve got something to tell you and Shadow later, in the Common Room. Tonight.”

Sonic’s ear flicking was the only sign he had heard him. After he finished his plate, he turned to Harry, blinked, and simply said, “Okay.”

Harry felt oddly relieved. He had thought it was going to be much harder than that. Sooner than he would have liked, breakfast ended and they headed to their first class of the day. Before that, Sonic had quickly run over to Shadow and notified him of the meeting, to which Shadow simply ‘hmph’d and said, “I’ll be there.”

Harry’s excitement lasted throughout the day, his classes passing faster than they ever had before. Finally he was in Potions, the last class of the day, and eagerly awaiting the signifying the end of class. Unfortunately, Snape was one of _those_ teachers, and had taken it upon himself to use the last ten minutes of class to force them into silence during note-taking. The only one who seemed to be relaxed was Sonic, and Snape was absolutely going to lose it any second, Harry was sure. 

At first, Snape had pretended not to notice the bright blue alien hedgehog who suddenly started showing up to class, but his facade quickly crumbled and Sonic got into more and more trouble with any Potions he had to brew. This was one of the few classes where Sonic actually had to do classwork rather than simply listen to a lecture, and it showed. Frankly, he was terrible at everything that had to do with chopping up ingredients (at one point, his Grindylow spine had been too unevenly diced, and when thrown into the potion, turned its color from a bright red to a vomit green, the texture and smell following the color). Snape had since banned him from touching anything in the classroom.

Blessedly, the last bell finally rang, and it would be an understatement to say the students did anything but rush out of the classroom, the fastest of them all (and the most eager to leave) of course being Sonic.

The students rushed up to Gryffindor Tower, quickly depositing their bags and pulling on their cloaks as instructed. They rushed down the steps to greet Professor McGonagall, where she hurriedly put them in lines according to grade level. Sonic was borrowing one of Ron’s cloaks, but since Ron was the tallest of the Golden Trio, it fit him oddly and trailed across the ground. Given that this was a formal occasion and he couldn’t just throw it off or risk the wrath of Professor McGonagall, he had simply taken to standing between Harry and Ron and hoisting himself up on their shoulders. At least he could see, and it got the cloak off the ground (much to the relief of Ron), though no matter how light Sonic was, Harry was sure his shoulder was going to be sore tomorrow. 

It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale, transparent-looking mood was already shining over the Forbidden Forest.

“Nearly six,” Ron said, checking his watch and then staring down the drive that lead to the front gates. “How d’you reckon they’re coming? The train?” He nudged his shoulder, “Cut that out.” Sonic stopped swinging his legs.

“I doubt it.” Hermione said.

“How then? Broomsticks?” Harry suggested, looking up at the starry sky in anticipation.

“I don’t think so… not from that far away…”

“A Portkey?” Sonic chimed in.

“Or Apparation?” Ron wondered. “Maybe you’re allowed to do it under seventeen where they come from.”

“You can’t Apparate inside Hogwarts grounds, how often do I have to tell you?” Hermione said impatiently.

They studied the drive excitedly, but minutes passed and nothing happened. Everything was still, silent, and quiet.

Suddenly, “Aha!”

It was Dumbledore. “Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!”

“Where?” A chorus of students asked.

“ _There!_ ” yelled a sixth yearn pointing over the forest.

It wasn’t a broomstick, and was indeed much too large to have been one hundred broomsticks. A powder-blue carriage was descending across the sky, skimming the tops of the treetops of the Forbidden Forest. It was gigantic, the size of a large house, and it was being pulled by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant. The carriage hurtled to the drive, causing the first three rows of students to draw back anxiously. With a tremendous crash, the first of horses’ hooves, larger than dinner plates, stomped into the dirt. A second later, the carriage landed too, vast wheels rolling to a halt as the golden horses tossed their fiery manes.

A boy dressed in powder blue dismounted from the carriage and hurriedly unfolded a set of golden steps. A shining, high-heeled black shoe emerged from the carriage - a shoe the size of a child’s sled - followed, almost immediately, by the largest women he had ever seen. The sheer size of everything was immediately explained. A few people gasped.

Harry had only seen one person this large in his entire life: Hagrid. He doubted whether there was an inch difference in their heights, but still- somehow, this women seemed to exude a presence that made her so much bigger, not to mention more intimidating. She was olive-skinned, with eyes black and liquid-like, and a rather beakish nose. Her shining black hair was pulled into a knob behind her head at the base of her neck. She was dressed in a massive black satin coat, and opals glittered around her neck and on her thick fingers. 

Dumbledore started to clap, and the students began to follow his lead. Many craned their necks to get a better look. Her face relaxed into a gracious smile, and she strode towards Dumbledore, extending her hand. Though tall himself, Dumbledore barely had to bend over to kiss it.

“My dear Madame Maxime,” he said, “Welcome to Hogwarts.” 

“Dumbly-dorr,” Madame Maxime said in a deep voice, “I ‘ope I find you well?”

“In excellent form,” replied Dumbledore easily.

“My pupils!” Madame Maxime called. Harry, whose attention had been completely focused on her, now noticed about a dozen boys and girls shivering in the cold. It was understandable, given that they were all wearing fine silks rather than cloaks. A few were wearing headscarves and shawls.

Sonic whistled quietly, “They’re sure dressed for the weather, huh?”

Harry nodded, but turned his attention back to Madame Maxime and Dumbledore.

“‘as Kakaroff arrived yet?” she asked.

“He should be here any moment,” said Dumbledore. “Would you like to wait here and greet him or step inside and warm up a trifle?”

“Warm up, I think,” said Madame Maxime, “But ze ‘orses-”

“Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them,” said Dumbledore, “the moment he had returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other -er- charges.”

“Skrewts,” Ron muttered to Harry, grinning. 

“My steeds require -er- forceful ‘andling,” Madame Maxime explained. She looked as though she doubted anyone at Hogwarts would be up to the job. “Zey are very strong…”

“I assure you that Hagrid is well up to the job,” Dumbledore said, smiling.

“Very well,” Madame Maxime agreed, bowing slightly. “Will you please inform zis ‘agrid zat ze ‘orses drink only single-malt whiskey?”

“It will attended to,” said Dumbledore, also bowing. 

“Come,” said Madame Maxime imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps. As soon as they were inside, gossip erupted among the Hogwarts students regarding the possible size of the Durmstrang’s horses. After a few minutes, everyone went quiet again. Sonic had long since dropped to the floor and started tapping his foot impatiently. Patience was not one of his strong suits.

“Can you hear that?” Ron asked suddenly. 

Harry listened; a loud and oddly eerie noise was drifting toward them from out of the darkness; a muffled rumbling and sucking sounds, as though an immense vacuum cleaner was traveling along the bottom of a riverbed.

“Great, now I can’t see!” Sonic said, annoyed. He hopped up onto Ron’s shoulders, despite his complaints. “Oh.”

It was the lake. It’s previously smooth surface was now bubbling, great boils of steam popping on top and waves washing against the muddy banks of the lake shore. In the middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as though someone had pulled the plug on the bottom of the lake bed.

What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool. Then the rigging appeared…

“Is that a ship?!” Sonic exclaimed incredulously. “No way!”

“It’s a mast.” Harry confirmed. Sonic was bristling at some unknown danger, but Harry was too drawn into the spectacle before him to worry.

Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes were ghostly eyes. Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship erupted out of the water, bobbing on the turbulent waves and gliding silently to shore. Harry heard the splash of an anchor, and saw a plank being lowered onto the bank.

People began to disembark; their silhouettes casting odd, bulky shadows on the ground as the sun finally set. As they drew closer, and were cast in the light pouring from the castle windows, Harry noticed most of the bulk was in fact due to the shaggy, woolen coats they all seemed to be wearing. The man leading them was wearing a different sort of cloak, sleek and silver like his hair.

“Dumbledore!” He called heartily as he walked up the slope, “How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?”

“Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff,” Dumbledore replied. Kakaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice; when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle they saw that he was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee (finishing in a small curl) was unsuccessful at hiding his weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook his hand with both his own.

“Dear old Hogwarts,” he said, looking up at the castle nostalgically, smiling with yellow teeth. His eyes remained shrewd and cold. “How good it is to be here, how good… Viktor, come along, into the warmth… you don’t mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold…”

Karkaroff beckoned to one of his students. An odd noise from Sonic caused Harry to look up at him in concern, though he was hardly paying attention. After all, when Kakaroff has said Viktor, he meant _Viktor Krum_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And... whew! We finally have a new lead on the Chaos Emerald, but it's going to be harder to locate than ever before. Hermione sure is stubborn over House Elves, huh? The Triwizard Tournament is just getting started... I wonder who the Champions will be, hehe. Mostly the same, of course, but with key differences. Keep reading to find out ;) Of course, that is, when I get the next chapter written. I have stuff planned for the Second Task and after, but nothing for the First Task, so I'm writing as I go. As always, hope you enjoyed and leave a kudos or a comment if you did! Stay safe everybody.


	12. Goblets and Rings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Goblet of Fire is introduced, and the ring is not forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I have nothing against French people. Please do not bully me, I have never met a French person in my life.
> 
> Another Note: This is one of the longest chapters! Yeah! Apologies in advance for like a third of it being exposition :(  
> Ngl, that part wasn't super fun.
> 
> I feel like I'm getting better at writing when I write for this fic- and I'm glad for it. Sorry for the wait, enjoy!

Dinner began with much fanfare. After the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had filed inside, the students of Hogwarts, neglecting the hush-hush motions of the teachers, erupted into excited chattering. The boys were very much enamored with the girls of Beauxbatons, though said girls had hardly deigned to give a glance towards them before turning back to whisper and occasionally burst into giggles. The female students of Hogwarts were fairly calm, with the exception of a group who had decided that getting Viktor Krum alone had become their sole purpose in life, and had taken some _extremely_ drastic measures to accomplish it.

“I don’t believe it,” Ron mumbled beside Harry as they ascended the steps to the Great Hall, “ _Viktor Krum_! Here!”

Harry tried to appear nonchalant on the outside, but in truth his inner voice was incessantly repeating that he absolutely _must_ get an autograph. Before he could respond, Hermione huffed loudly on Ron’s other side. 

“He’s not _that_ much to look at,” Hermione scoffed, eyeing the gaggle of preteen girls attempting to shove past each other to follow Viktor inside first, “He’s only a Quidditch player.”

Sonic, walking beside Harry and puffing out his quills to avoid getting stepped on, wagged his finger at Hermione teasingly. “Hermione, I think you’re forgetting the part where he’s supposedly world famous. Aren’t people _supposed_ to be obsessed with him?” 

Harry raised an eyebrow as a sour look suddenly came over Sonic’s face, as if he was remembering something particularly unpleasant.

“Still! It’s no excuse for those girls to act like… that,” Hermione replied, not one to be swayed in her opinion by anything less than a textbook thesis.

Sonic, to Harry’s surprise, laughed rather loudly at that remark. At the trio’s questioning looks, he just waved a hand, managing to explain, “Sorry, you just reminded me of someone back home. The girls here have _nothin’_ on her.”

Reentering the Great Hall, Harry watched curiously as on top of the gaggle of younger girls trying to reach him, some older female students were also attempting to get Krum’s autograph. Rather than the flustered and shy looks (as well as underhanded tactics of betrayal) of the second and third years, these girls were instead working together to try and corner Krum. Harry allowed himself a laugh when he caught sight of the nervous sweat on Krum’s brow, who, despite his stony expression, was clearly glancing at Karkaroff for help in fending off the teenage fans. Karkaroff, however, was no help, and had instead decided to spend his attention on more important things, such as the chocolate eclair lying defenseless on the staff table.

“Harry-” Ron whispered as they took their seats, “You got a quill on you?” 

Harry shook his head while Sonic plucked out one of his own from his spines, handing it to Ron cheekily. Ron sighed in hopelessness as he stared at the electric blue quill, one hundred percent sure Viktor Krum wouldn’t even think of touching the thing. He perked up as Krum passed the Gryffindor table looking for a seat, but sagged once again in defeat as he wasn’t able to convince Hermione to move quickly enough for a space to appear. 

The final seating arrangements appeared to be Beauxbatons with Ravenclaw (which they seemed none too happy about) and Durmstrang with Slytherin, though the majority of the students were quite wary of the death glare Shadow was shooting them when they dared come within five feet of him. That, however, gave Malfoy a golden opportunity to start chatting up Krum, who was seated somewhat uncomfortably across from him (“Smarmy suck up…” Ron muttered. Harry agreed.). The Durmstrang students stared at the enchanted night sky of the Great Hall ceiling with interest and examined the gold-plated plates, goblets, and silverware set out in front of them, appearing impressed with the rather fancy display the house-elves had prepared.

Sonic let out a low whistle beside Harry, eyes roving around the spruced-up Great Hall with bright curiosity. Harry thought he looked like he wanted to go for a run, if his frantically swinging legs underneath the table were any indication. A brief stab of pity went through Harry. He couldn’t imagine it was easy being cooped up when all you were used to doing was running, especially such an unfamiliar place. Hell, Harry had been attending Hogwarts for three years now and he was still being surprised every year. Hogwarts was Harry’s home, but Sonic had been torn away from his rather abruptly, and even though he was always saying how cool magic was, Harry was occasionally able to catch the brief looks of homesickness that flashed across his face before they were pushed beneath a grin when he noticed someone watching. 

Sneaking a glance from the corner of his eye, he frowned when he noticed Sonic’s legs had stopped swinging and he was instead staring boredly at his empty plate, tapping his foot incessantly against the ground. _He’s probably feeling left out_ , Harry surmised with a frown.

“Say, Sonic,” Harry said, intent on shaking him out of his funk, “How’s your- er, what’s the word… assisting going?”

Sonic’s ear flicked, and he quickly pushed himself off his folded arms, blinking at Harry in confusion before the metaphorical lightbulb went off above his head at which point he smiled and began chattering so quickly that Harry was having trouble even deciphering syllables. “Overall it’s going pretty well, I think most of them like me except Snape- He wouldn’t even let me enter the room after class was over, so I don’t think I’m gonna keep trying, you know? He doesn’t want me anywhere near the cauldrons, says he’s afraid I might set off a reaction that could set half the school on fire. I mean, I don’t think that would happen, but hey, it’s less work for me so who am I to say no? Oh, but Prof. Trelawney was super weird when I talked to her about it, so I don’t think I’m gonna go back there either. Hagrid is really nice though-” At this Harry nodded sagely, “And so is Flitwick. I like Professor McGonagall, but I’m ninety percent sure she wants to turn me into a pincushion- literally. It’s fun work though, and they show me magic if I catch them in a good mood, well, except Hagrid, but helping him with the other creatures totally makes up for it. I can’t really communicate with a lot of them like I can on Mobius, but somehow I just sort of _know_ what they need and help ‘em out. The only one I haven’t worked with is Prof. Binns, but I can’t even find him after class, so I’ll just try again next week. Prof. Moody usually gives me easy work, but he’s a grumpy geezer, plus he never shows me any of his magic. Says it’s ‘too dangerous’. I’m also supposed to go assist some teachers I don’t know, but meeting new people is usually fun for me, so I’m only a little nervous about it.”

Harry swore his head was spinning, but he had hummed in agreement and/or acknowledgement when he thought he was supposed to. Sonic had clearly been dying to talk to someone about everything, and given how little Shadow cared for small talk, Harry wasn’t surprised Sonic hadn’t told him about it. 

“Maybe you can ask Hermione to show you around,” Ron said, surprising both Harry and Sonic into staring at him owl-eyed. They hadn’t realized he had been listening, but he apparently didn’t notice their mutual shock, watching Hermione’s reaction with a teasing grin, “She probably knows all the teachers by now.”

Hermione shoved him gently, flushing slightly. “Not _all_ of them,” was her only defense, much to the amusement of the rest of the group.

They settled into easy small talk, though Harry noticed Sonic’s frequent glances to Shadow’s circle of solitude over at the Slytherin table. He nudged Sonic with his elbow, causing the worried look to disappear as Sonic visibly swallowed, shaking his head to clear it. He began regaling them with another tale of his exploits, causing most of the Gryffindor table to cease their own arguments and discussions in an attempt to hear more about the bizarre adventures of their resident visitor-from-another-world. 

It was a tale he had heard before, and so Harry turned his attention to the rest of the Hall. The Durmstrang students were settled but the Beauxbatons appeared to be having more trouble than they had expected, especially concerning the weather. They were wrapped up in shawls and still had their coats on, as opposed to the Durmstrang students who had thrown their heavy fur coats across their laps at first opportunity for fear of overheating. At the staff table, it appeared that the headmasters were finally settled and preparing to begin dinner announcements. His eyebrows shot up with interest when he spotted Filch (in a moldy old tailcoat) setting up not two, but four chairs at the staff table. He got the attention of Ron and Hermione (unwilling to interrupt Sonic) and discreetly pointed up at the staff table.

“Why do you reckon Filch is putting out four chairs instead of two?” Harry asked them in a whisper. Hermione frowned, but Ron’s eyes quickly strayed over to Krum and a dopey smile came over his face as he stared at his idol. Harry rolled his eyes and would have attempted to get his attention again had Dumbledore not at the moment stood up, spreading his arms wide to get the attention of all the students in the Great Hall.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts, visitors, and- most particularly- guests,” said Dumbledore, beaming around at the foreign students. Sonic snickered beside Harry. “I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable.”

One of the Beauxbatons girls, clutching a muffler around her head she had apparently refused to take off, gave what was unmistakably a derisive laugh.

“No one’s forcing you to stay!” Hermione whispered, bristling so much that Sonic had to do a double take to make sure he wasn’t being poked.

“The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast,” said Dumbledore. “I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!”

He sat down, and Harry noticed Karkaroff almost immediately began to engage him in conversation. 

The plates in front of them filled to the brim without warning, warm bread rolls nearly spilling out of baskets and the delicious smell of a pot pie filling the air. Harry noticed Sonic looking at it longingly before shrugging to himself and pulling a chili dog out of… somewhere. Alien hedgehogs were strange. 

Several of the dishes on the table were not the usual, and more than a few of them were most definitely foreign. Despite that, none of them looked unappetizing, and so Harry made sure to grab a helping of nearly everything.

Ron, on the other hand, wrinkled his nose as a dish was passed his way, some sort of shellfish stew with a _very_ distinct scent. 

“What _is_ that?” asked Ron.

“Bouillabaisse,” answered Hermione.

“Bless you,” Ron siad.

Hermione let out a long-suffering sigh. “It’s _French_ , Ron. I had on holiday the summer before last. It’s quite tasty.”

Ron shrugged. He pushed the dish over to Neville and helped himself to a scoop of chocolate pudding. “I’ll take your word for it.”

The Great Hall somehow seemed much more crowded than usual, even though in total barely twenty additional students had joined. It was perhaps due to the different colored uniforms- they stood out starkly against the black of the Hogwarts robes. 

Twenty minutes into the feast Hagrid slipped inside, his hand heavily bandaged. He waved toward the Gryffindor table (surprisingly, Sonic was the one to give him the most enthusiastic wave back) before taking his place at the staff table.

“Skrewts doing all right, Hagrid?” Harry called.

“Thrivin’,” Hagrid called back happily.

“Yeah, I’ll just bet they are,” said Ron quietly. “Looks like they’ve finally got a favorite meal: Hagrid’s fingers.”

At that moment, a velvety voice behind them said, “Excuse me, are you still wanting ze bouillabaisse?”

It was the girl who had laughed during Dumbledore’s speech. She had removed the muffler, revealing long locks of white-gold hair that fell perfectly down her back, almost to her waist. She had large, deep blue eyes and white, even teeth. 

Ron went purple beside him. Sonic spared her a glance, and her him, before they mutually turned away in disinterest. Hermione watched her warily, with a bit of annoyance in her eyes if Harry was seeing correctly. Ron had apparently gone mute upon seeing her with the exception of a faint gurgling noise, and so Harry was forced to hand off the dish to her. 

“Yeah, have it.”

“You ‘ave finished wiz it?” 

“Yeah,” Ron breathed, “It was excellent.”

The girls raised a delicate eyebrow but took the dish without another word, carefully carrying it over to the Ravenclaw table. Ron was still goggling the girl as she sat down. Harry began to laugh.

“What wrong, Ron?” Sonic teased, “Never met a girl before?”

Ron shook his head, the joke apparently enough to break through whatever trance he had been in. 

“She’s a _veela_!” He whispered to them hoarsely.

“Of course she isn’t!” said Hermione tartly. “I don’t see anyone else gaping at her like an idiot!”

It was an incorrect deduction. Many of the boys’ heads had turned as the girl had crossed the Great Hall, and some of them appeared to have become temporarily speechless, just like Ron.

“I’m telling you, that’s not a normal girl!” said Ron, leaning sideways so he could keep staring at her, “They don’t make them like that at Hogwarts!”

“They make them fine at Hogwarts,” said Harry without thinking. His crush, Cho Chang happened to be sitting only a few seats away from the girl with the silvery hair. Their hair appeared luxurious, as though blowing on a breeze. Oh, no, that wasn’t a breeze-

Sonic, it appeared, had tired of politely sitting in his seat and had raced up to go greet the new arrivals at the staff table, who consisted of Ludo Bagman and Mr. Crouch, Percy’s boss.

Harry blinked to make sure he was seeing things correctly. 

“What are they doing here?” He asked in surprise.

“If you had been paying attention,” Hermione huffed, “You would have noticed when they arrived. I assume they’re probably here to make sure the Triwizard Tournament starts off alright.”

Karkaroff and Madame Maxime had differing reactions to the sudden arrival of a three foot tall blue hedgehog: Surprise (from Madame Maxime) and fear (from Professor Karkaroff), both of which were eventually simmered down into polite fascination (from Madame Maxime) and polite disdain (from Professor Karkaroff) upon an explanation from a very surprised Ludo Bagman.

Shadow, menacingly marching over from the Slytherin table with a clear look of exasperated annoyance, grabbed Sonic around the middle and hoisted him up over his head, the nonexistent height difference between the two making for even more comical scene as Sonic tried to kick Shadow in the back of the had while Shadow attempted to give a dishonest apology to the visiting headmasters. Dumbledore, despite the strained calming smile on his face, seemed to be close to having an aneurysm. 

Making his way back to the table in the near dead silence of the Great Hall, Shadow dropped Sonic on the bench beside him. 

“ _What?_ ” He hissed upon noticing the eyes on them. Everyone quickly turned back to finish their second course meals.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched the whole scene in near silence before bursting out into laughter obnoxious enough to gain glances of concern from the seventh-years further down the table. Ron was forced to bite his knuckles to stifle his chuckles, while Hermione attempted to hide behind her hands and Harry buried his face in his arms, body racked with laughter he trying to keep contained, causing random spasms in his lungs as he attempted not to snort loudly at the ridiculousness of the situation. 

Eventually the desserts were served, eaten, and cleared. Sonic was still busy trying to bother Shadow while Shadow, meanwhile, looked about two seconds from strangling him to finally get some peace and quiet. 

It was at this time that Dumbledore clapped his hands. A great wave of sounds rang out over the Great Hall, silencing even Sonic and Shadow. A few seats down from Harry, Fred and George leaned forward with interest, expressions of great concentration on their faces. 

“The moment has come,” said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. “The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket-”

“The what?” Harry muttered.

Ron shrugged.

“-just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation” - there was a smattering of polite applause - “And Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.”

Apparently Bagman was much more well-known (or well-liked), as his round of applause was much louder and _much_ more enthusiastic. Bagman gave a jovial wave of his hand. Bartemius Crouch did not smile or wave when his name was announced. Remembering him in his neat suit at the Quidditch World Cup, Harry though he looked strange in proper wizard’s robes. His severe hair parting and toothbrush moustache made him seem very odd next to the long-haired and long-bearded Dumbledore. 

“Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament,” Dumbledore continued, “and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions’ efforts.”

All listening ears in the hall seemed to sharpen at the word ‘champions’, the attentiveness of each and every student (including a certain two hedgehogs) at an all time high never seen in classes. Dumbledore appeared to have noticed their sudden stillness, for he smiled as he said, “The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch.”

Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a dark corner for the majority of the feast, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden casket embedded with jewels of all sorts, from diamond to gold to sapphires to rubies. In spite of the polish of the jewels, the casket appeared extremely old. A murmur swept through the students, and out of the corner of his eye Harry unknowingly smiled as he saw Sonic practically vibrating in his seat with excitement, and even Shadow, who had perpetually worn a frown on his face since Harry had first met him, was staring with sharp interest as the casket was gingerly placed on the table in front of Dumbledore..

“The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman,” explained Dumbledore, “and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced out throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways… their magical prowess - their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger.”

At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that every breath one took seemed to be a thundercrack from the enchanted sky above.

“As you know, three champions compete in the tournament,” Dumbledore went on calmly, “one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after three tasks will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: The Goblet of Fire.”

At this point Dumbledore took his wand and tapped it three times on the lid of the casket. It slowly creaked open. Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff stood up from their seats, and together the three of them reached into the casket, lifting a roughly-hewn wooden goblet into the air as their prize. The goblet would have been completely unremarkable if not for the fact that it was filled to the brim with dancing blue and white flames. Dumbledore was the first to let go, closing the casket lid so Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime could place it on top before returning to their seats. 

“Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet,” said Dumbledore, “Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.”  
“To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation,” Dumbledore continued, “I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it had been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.”

“Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that the tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion had been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all.” With that, Dumbledore stepped off the podium and took his seat.

As complaints erupted about the Age Line, primarily from Fred and George, and Hermione attempted to counter them with facts and logic, Harry found himself daydreaming about what it might be like to be champion. Surely Dumbledore wouldn’t be _too_ mad, if someone underage managed to enter? If he got in and won, he would be filthy rich, and maybe Cho would go out with him…

A nudge from Hermione alerted him to the fact that most of the students had already filed out of the Great Hall, with the exception of Durmstrang and a few Hogwarts straggles. Beauxbatons was nowhere to be seen. 

He stepped out of the way to allow Karkaroff and his students passage. 

“Back to the ship, then,” he was saying, “Viktor, how are you feeling? Did you eat enough? Should I send for some mulled wine from the kitchens?”

Krum shook his head as he pulled his fur coat back on. Harry briefly wondered from the sour look on his face whether Malfoy had been bothering for the entirety of dinner or if that was just his natural expression.

“Professor, I vood like some vine,” said another of the students hopefully.

The pretense of warm fatherly care evaporated instantly. “I wasn’t offering it to you, Poliakoff,” Karkaroff sneered, “I notice you have dibbled food all down the front of your robes again, disgusting boy-”

Harry didn’t deign to listen any more, though Karkaroff stopped his procession in the hallway to carelessly give him a ‘thank-you’, the time of said stoppage being further lengthened when Karkaroff noticed his scar and took all of half a minute to put together that _yes_ , he was _the_ Harry Potter. 

Thankfully, a timely interruption saved him from further awkward staring. “Yeah, that’s Harry Potter.” Mad-Eye Moody said from behind them, “Move along.”

Karkaroff went white as sheet when he caught sight of Moody. “You!” He said, staring at Moody with a look of fear tinged with fury. He seemed as though he was unsure he was truly seeing him.

“Me,” Moody replied grimly, “And unless you’ve got anything else to say to Potter, you might want to move. You’re blocking the doorway.” 

It was true. Karkaroff coughed into his hand and continued on his way, glancing behind him every thirty seconds or so. He said nothing more. Moody continued to watch him even after he left, a look of intense dislike settled into his bones.

Harry only barely remembered to yell to Sonic to bring Shadow over for the talk that night- with all the excitement of the evening, he had nearly forgotten.

* * *

Shadow slunk into the Gryffindor Common Room behind Sonic, still reeling at the sheer amount of magical energy now present inside the castle. _If this doesn’t attract the Chaos Emerald, I don’t know what will._ The arrival of both new headmasters and the litany of students had his internal chaos sensors going off nonstop.

His research on the Unforgivable Curses had yet to pay off. Even the restricted section, which had been an absolute chore to get permission for, offered nothing more than what they were already being taught in class. At least the rest of his time spent at Hogwarts finally seemed to be good for something. The wizarding classes and precision needed to cast spells had helped Shadow refine his chaos energy to a level he hadn’t thought possible. Or perhaps he had simply discounted the need for further refinement on Mobius. Besides furthering his ability through reading theory books, he and Hermione had often worked late in the library to test the limits of his magical resistance. Sonic had ‘regaled’ him with tales of his own adventures on Mobius between classes and at meal times, and, when put in comparison with his own experiences, Shadow felt he could safely say that their slight resistance to magic was a Mobian thing (and, unfortunately, not an Ultimate Lifeform thing). Shadow and Hermione had worked to finally boil it down to a formula: For Sonic, his resistance depended on the time of day, and for Shadow, it depended on how well-rested he was. 

Shadow understood his own situation quite well: His body ran off Chaos Energy, and, due to the fact it could no longer draw upon free Chaos Energy in the environment, was actually reliant upon him being in good physical condition to replenish itself in small amounts. It was a slightly unsettling feeling. His inner well of energy was enormous, but it was unusual that he was actually forced to watch out for how much he drew upon. Food helped supplement the well, but if he were to pull several all-nighters in a row, it wouldn’t do much to refill it. For that, he would need to return home (or perhaps grab a Chaos Emerald). Looking after his health was going to be a strange shift in routine, since he usually relied upon Rouge to do it for him.

Sonic’s situation was a bit different in that Shadow couldn’t determine the reasoning behind it. Hermione had figured out, through consented testing with him that Shadow hadn’t been privy to, that the faker’s magic resistance was highest in the daytime and lowest at night, which most likely had something to do with an adventure Sonic hadn’t shared.

Shadow liked to think the faker was never anything but annoying, but he knew (and would rather let Omega shoot him dead before admitting), that there were many other facets of his character that intrigued him. He also knew that Sonic, after the ridiculous ordeal that was Infinite and those six months he was missing, was in no way as alright as he pretended. All of his adventures were taking their toll somewhere, even if it wasn’t visible. He nearly snorted. _A faker indeed._

One night, late in the library to the point Hermione was nearly asleep at the table, this line of thought had led Shadow to the unfortunate and mildly irritating conclusion that faker still didn’t trust him. He had always thought the faker predictable, at least in his behavior, but as he had mulled over it, he realized (somewhat angrily) that he knew almost nothing about _why_ Sonic acted the way he did. Sonic talked (and was sometimes an incessant chatterbox, in Shadow’s humble opinion) but he rarely _talked_ . Shadow knew Sonic maybe half as well as the fox boy did, but he (for some ridiculous reason) found himself aggravated in that lack of knowledge. He convinced himself that it had nothing to do with wanting to be friends desiring companionship, and that they were only talking to each other due to necessity and external circumstances. Obviously. The only reason Sonic hung around him was for something familiar in this place, and the only reason he agreed to interact with that faker was pure necessity. Something bubbled under the surface of his thoughts, unwelcome in that even contemplating it seemed ridiculous. He pushed the thought away forcefully and shook his head to clear his mind, though stray thoughts continued to buzz loudly like flies near a fruit jar. _Like I said, ridiculous. I’m perfectly fine with Rouge and Omega, thank you very much._

And yet...

Beside him, Sonic stopped his whistling as they arrived before one of the moving portraits, this time of a plump woman in a white dress, sipping from her red wine glass.

“Password?” The woman asked.

“Hey Shads-” Sonic glanced at him, before his tone abruptly changed, “Hey, is something the matter?” 

Shadow kept his voice neutral. “Nothing, faker. Are you going to open the door or are we going to stand here all night?”

“Well, uh, about that-”

 _This._ This was why a friendship with the faker would be an absolute disaster. “Sonic, so help me, if you’ve forgotten the password-”

Just as Shadow would have undoubtedly fried him with Chaos Spears (Sonic was already preparing to run) a student, in thier fourth year by the looks of it, rushed up the stairs behind them and yelled, “Banana Fritters!”

The woman in the portrait, who had been eyeing them with open confusion, nodded at the student in relief and swung open. He ran inside while Sonic and Shadow quickly took their opportunity and dashed in after him, despite the woman watching Shadow enter the common room distrustfully. 

He glanced around. It was certainly warmer than the Slytherin dorms, both figuratively and literally. A fire flickered brightly in the hearth and red banners were draped gently down the walls. From one of the tables in the middle of the room, Ron, who was facing the entrance, perked up. He nudged Harry and Hermione, the latter of whom flushed slightly upon seeing them, most likely due to the fact she was caught nearly sleeping on her notes. Sonic waved and cheerfully crossed the room in a flash, Shadow following a second later. 

If Hermione’s company was enjoyable, was she not his friend? The thought disturbed him. Was Shadow the Hedgehog (Ultimate Lifeform) really… making friends? By himself? The thought was odd, and so he pushed it out of his mind. He was _not_ in the mood for more introspection.

“So, what’s going on?” Sonic asked. The trio of humans probably didn’t notice, but to Shadow it was clear his voice was off it’s usual lilt. He was nervous.

“I- er, that is, there was this dream…” Harry scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to say, “And- um- basically, I found what you’re looking for.”

Sonic flicked his ear, eyes widening and posture relaxing. “Really? You found it?”

Shadow glanced around the room. Mostly empty, except for their group and a few stragglers. He doubted any of the students eavesdropping would know what they were talking about if they did happen to overhear anything important.

“Not exactly _found_ it,” Harry explained awkwardly, “More like… know someone… who did?”

“Well,” Shadow said impatiently, “Who are they?”

Harry winced. “...Voldemort?”

The ring, forgotten until now, suddenly burned on his finger, hot and painful. It was unexpected, and Shadow gasped as fire seemed to flash through his hand. 

“The hell?!” He hissed, shaking his hand furiously. He nearly tore his glove off, but as the pain receded he decided against it. It was bearable. Barely.

“Shadow?”

He grit his teeth and looked up. “It’s nothing. Continue.” Ignoring the raised eyebrows, Shadow forced his quills to lay flat as the pain faded. It was silent for a few moments, before Sonic snapped his finger.

“Vol-” He glanced at Shadow out of the corner of his eyes, appearing slightly worried. “That guy has the emerald? Did you find out where he is?”

Harry scratched his cheek, “No, not really. I’m sorry. I- we just thought we should tell you.”

“How did you come by this information?” Shadow questioned, “A spell of some sort?”

“Not… exactly,” Harry responded, eyes troubled. Ron and Hermione watched him in concern. “It was a dream, but…”

“A dream? Hmph.” Shadow shook his head. As unreliable as _that_ sounded, this was a world where ‘magic’ made nearly anything possible. It was also the first lead they had had in awhile. If Harry really was receiving flashes of the emerald, it was quite possibly the work of the gem itself. 

“Wait wait wait. Vol- Him? Isn’t he supposed to be, you know, dead?” Sonic asked in confusion.

“Er- It wasn’t really _him,_ I guess, but his assistant, Wormtail was there, and I-” Harry closed his eyes, voice strained, “Sorry. That’s all I remember.”

Watching his friend’s behavior carefully, Sonic suddenly felt bad for questioning Harry like this. Thinking of Voldemort always seemed to bring him discomfort, so he took it upon himself to cheer him back up.

“That’s alright, Har. At least we finally know the Chaos Emerald is actually here at all, even if it’s pretty close to the location of, well, him. Thanks a ton.”

Harry smiled tiredly. “No problem.” He yawned and glanced down at his notes in distaste. Beside him, Ron and Hermione exchanged worried glances, but said nothing. With everything that was going on, it was no surprise his human body was probably feeling exhausted.

Shadow contemplated the new information. He and Sonic had already gone looking around the continent for the emerald, but perhaps one more trip was in order. It would probably be troublesome if Voldemort, the adversary of wizards, figured out how to use the power of the emerald. He shook his head again. He needed more time to think.

“If that’s everything.” Shadow turned around and left without another word, contemplating his discoveries. Was his chaos-magic theory incorrect? Was Voldemort truly dead? Why had to emerald chosen to appear to him, instead of at the school, like he had predicted? Had the other students not arrived quickly enough, and the emerald had gone to the second-largest magic signature in this world? Or, perhaps… Had it sensed the extreme lack of energy, and appeared somewhere to fill the void? He rubbed his temples, sensing an oncoming headache. 

He didn’t notice the light footsteps behind him until he was already halfway to the Slytherin dormitory. He spun around warily, but to his surprise, it was no assailant. Sonic stood behind him, nonchalant, or at least appearing to be so. One of his sneakers was balanced on its tip behind him, and Shadow watched silently as it tapped against the floor. His eyes met Sonic’s, ruby to emerald, and finally Sonic huffed in annoyance and crossed his arms.

“I didn’t want this to be weird,” he sighed, rolling his eyes, “So much for that.”

“What do _you_ want?” Shadow asked in irritation, not really in the mood for teasing or irritating antics. Sonic’s eyes flashed. 

“I want to know what the hell that was in the Common Room! You can’t just double over in pain and expect m- people to brush it off.”

“Actually, I can. And like I said, it’s nothing.” Shadow narrowed his eyes, daring Sonic to test him on that.

“Oh really? Is that why you looked like your hand was about to fall off?”

“It doesn’t matter at this point. It doesn’t hurt anymore..” Shadow wasn’t sure why he was fighting so hard to keep the ring a secret. Surely it didn’t matter if he told Sonic about it? But something insidious was whispering in his thoughts, causing his competitive instincts to kick in, and his latent frustration with Sonic, the Chaos Emerald, and the situation as a whole seemed to be wretchedly boiling beneath his skin.

“It doesn’t- Shadow! Why can’t you just tell me what’s going on? I’m not some kid who you need to keep secrets from!” Sonic seemed fairly upset at the moment, but still there was something was egging Shadow on, patting him on the back for every harsh word he was going to say to the faker. What was this voice? He couldn’t seem to bring himself to care. His repressed anger and insecurities were melting together into a solution of violent anger. The incident that had kicked off this whole mess may have been accidental, yet at the moment it seemed entirely too easy to pin it all on Sonic. Why the hell was he stuck here with the faker, of all people? Why did he keep finding himself speaking his thoughts to the damn idiot? And why in the _hell_ did he keep opening himself up? Setting himself up for disappointment and failure? It was disgusting, and weak-natured, nothing _like_ what the Ultimate Lifeform should be ( ~~it was too terrifying to be vulnerable~~ ). He didn’t need to rely on anyone. He didn’t need anybody. Shadow the Hedgehog most certainly did not need _a friend_.

“Why the hell do you even care? We’re only allies due to circumstance, nothing more. I could care less what you think about anything I do, and I could care less about _you._ ”

Sonic’s eyes widened and his fists tightened minutely at his sides. His gaze became less open and more stony, a poker face he rarely wore. “Well, you may not care about me, but I, at least, thought we were friends. But,” his tone turned bitter, “I guess your superiority complex finally got the better of you, Mr. Ultimate Lifeform.” He bit his lip and abruptly turned around. “See you later.” 

And he was gone.

Shadow watched him go, more confused than anything now that he had no target for the rest of his anger. Had he not spoken the truth? Did Sonic not feel the same way? Before this whole incident, they had rarely seen each other except for competitive racing or, on rare occasions, G.U.N. missions where Sonic wanted to tag along. 

_It’s his own fault_ , a voice seemed to whisper in his mind, _he tried to get close to you and got burned, just like everyone else._

 _But Rouge_ , Shadow protested, _and Omega-_

_Irrelevant. Don’t you remember-_

_Maria._

Shadow blinked. He was frowning, though he couldn’t understand the reason. He should be happy. He had finally gotten rid of the dead weight. This feeling… surely it wasn’t _regret_? Something in his mind bloomed at that moment, burning brightly, a gentle green glow that reminded him of Chaos Energy. A throb stabbed through his skull, the oncoming migraine undeniable.

_This headache must be worse than I thought._

He stumbled back to the Slytherin dormitory in a dreamy daze. His body was on autopilot, but as he retreated to his bed and pulled shut the curtains… an itch began to develop.

It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, at first. He scratched it idly, but touching it only seemed to make it spread. He kept scratching, and before he knew it his whole body was ablaze, seemingly irritated. It felt as though a particularly small insect was crawling beneath his skin. Finally, the feeling became so awful he was forced to take off his gloves and begin scratching furiously, drawing blood with the inhumanly sharp claws the blood of the Black Arms granted him. 

_Why… What is this burning?_

Something caught his eye, glittering in the darkness. The ring. That green glow, in the center of his mind. It was an _inferno_ now. It was instinct, really, that made him grit his teeth at that moment, bearing his fangs. The ring seemed to be clinging to his finger like a tick, burrowing itself under his skin.

_I must get rid of it._

He slid the claws of his opposite hand beneath the band, and pulled with all of his strength. It wasn’t working. 

_No!_

The ring, his body was telling him, was poisoning him. Leaving it on was _not_ an option.

Shadow pulled again, harder than he thought possible. The ring slid over his knuckle, but seemed more desperate than ever to remain glued to his hand. _Fuck this._ Shadow nearly gave up, but the glow behind his eyes intensified, until everything he saw was tinted over with a chaos green hue. In this new emerald vision, the ring was black, a corroded parasite clinging to his flesh. Anger overcame Shadow, and instead of green everything was suddenly red, and with a great growl of anger he ripped the damn thing _off_.

Immediately, his body slumped with exhaustion. Shadow tiredly noticed his inhibitor rings were dangerously close to sliding off, and pushed them back, flickers of chaos energy receding under his skin. He placed the ring down on the nightstand beside him, close enough to reach it but far enough that he couldn’t sense it’s presence.

The moment the ring ceased to touch him, the headache disappeared. Clarity suddenly rushed over him, and he collapsed onto the bed as the rush of adrenaline and chaos faded away. 

Something moved in his periphery, and out of the corner of his eyes he noticed a pale white face staring at him in the darkness.

“Go to bed, Malfoy,” He murmured exhaustedly.

The face dropped back to its pillow and the curtain abruptly closed. Shadow supposed his chaos energy light show must have woken him up. He hadn’t meant to, but he wasn’t particularly sorry about it either. But what he was sorry about…

_Oh Chaos, I didn’t mean it. The damn ring- it’s been feeding off of me for far too long. I’d forgotten about it, and now I’ve made a mistake I don’t know I can fix._

He’d have to figure out a way to get rid of the ring. He couldn’t allow it to cause him to act so foolishly again. 

Shadow slept with a troubled mind and a troubled heart.

Sonic, understandably, was avoiding him. It wasn’t his usual behavior, but Shadow wasn’t going to force him to spend time with him after what had happened the previous night. He poked at his food absently, only taking bites when his stomach deigned to remind him that after the lightshow last night his chaos energy was lower than the threshold he needed to function normally. His movements were slower than he would have liked (though they would have still appeared supersonic to the wizards). Malfoy hadn’t bothered him this morning, which was of more importance to him than to Shadow. The kid would have gotten a few dozen Chaos Spears if he had said something snarky to Shadow at the moment (thought, truthfully, Shadow would have liked to have something to take out his frustration on). Anything but this sense of something missing. He felt weak, and he detested it. He felt weak, and he accepted it.

A couple of the stupider Slytherins had decided to take their chances with the Goblet of Fire. Shadow felt that although they were of age they didn’t have _nearly_ the amount of critical thinking skills necessary for a tournament of this type. He himself, a novice of magic, probably would have performed better than most of the students who deigned to enter (including a somewhat humorous event in which Fred, George and their friend attempted to enter their names into the goblet using and aging potion and were promptly thrown onto their asses by the Age Line). 

Shadow went about his day as normal, though he was regrettably hyper-aware of the absence of a certain faker. His classes continued to be a bore, and when he _did_ have a a joint activity with the Gryffindors, Sonic avoided him by excusing himself for a run or something equally inane. 

Before dinner, Shadow ran into the dormitory to change his socks after stepping in _something_ having to do with the Blast-Ended Skrewts, who weren’t nearly as amusing when it was breeding season and they were beginning to lay eggs. As he dug through the chest the school had loaned him he reflexively checked the nightstand for the ring- only to find it had disappeared. 

Instantly, he began searching through the chests of the other students, then the nightstands, then under the pillows, then the restroom- nothing. It was gone, almost as though it hadn’t been there in the first place. Shadow growled in frustration, checking the clock.

This was the sort of thing he would have talked to Sonic about, with the glaring problem that he and Sonic weren’t currently on speaking terms. Shadow could just apologize, but without the ring, how was he supposed to explain that his words weren’t his own? Or- even worse - they possibly were his own, but the ring had given him an excuse to voice them? And, on top of that, Sonic had no reason to believe Shadow. After all, hadn’t Shadow done his hardest to deny there was anything but animosity between them? Why would Sonic forgive him when Shadow had never indicated he felt differently than what he had said?

How frustrating. 

Shadow collapsed on his bed, staring at the ceiling before determination seared through him. He was going to have to acknowledge he had made a mistake not only with his words, but keeping the ring a secret in the first place. Shadow the Hedgehog was going to fix this.

But first, he had to find the ring. 

* * *

The morning after Shadow told him how he felt, Sonic promised himself he was going to back off. Obviously, it _was_ his fault. He should have apologized to Shadow sooner for getting them into this mess instead of continuing to deny his part in it. 

He admitted to himself that he was probably too clingy. In his head, he had told himself it was because he didn’t want Shadow to feel alone (because Shadow _clearly_ hadn’t proven he was fine by himself), but in reality it was because _he_ didn’t want to feel alone. In spite of his avoidance of hugs and the like, Sonic disliked being alone for too long. An adventure or two for a few days was nice when he needed to recuperate, but being _forced_ into solitude only brought him back to the days of Green Hill, where he was a small and lonely ten year old kid up against a narcissistic madman with nothing but his shoes and speed on his side (and, more lately, the months up on the space station where- _no_ ). 

Sonic missed his friends. He tried to make new ones wherever he went- partially because wherever he went there were people in need, and partially because he disliked being forced to bear the weight of the world by himself. So, maybe, he had pushed too hard with Shadow. He had pushed their tenuous alliance too far, and lost it all together. Shadow didn’t _want_ him as a friend. Well, fine. That was fine.

He really didn’t _need_ anyone. 

_Then again_ , he glanced towards Harry, who hadn’t yet been forced awake by any of his dorm mates, _maybe I’m not entirely alone._

Sonic forced himself to act cheerful during breakfast, deflecting any questions about what he and Shadow had talked about last night after they had left the common room. He could tell Hermione was concerned, though she was probably _more_ concerned with the S.P.E.W. badges than his faux cheeriness. Ron kept shooting him worried glances, while Harry seemed the most suspicious. Intent on avoiding a grilling later, Sonic toned it down a little, and assured them everything was fine as they went through their day.

No one stepped forward to put their name in the Goblet at breakfast, aside from a girl named Angelina who apparently played Quidditch with Harry. They wished her luck after she told them, then headed down towards Hagrid’s hut for a visit, since for the Golden Trio it had apparently been awhile. Unfortunately, Sonic couldn’t accompany them due to the fact Professor Moody had asked him for some assistance last night before he and Shadow had gone to the Gryffindor Common Room, and who was he to turn down someone who needed his help? Additionally, he had explained to them, he had already seen Hagrid a few days ago, so, “It’s fine, go on and see him, yes, I promise it’s fine”. They had eventually acquiesced, to his relief, and he waved them off before heading off to go find the professor.

Sonic wandered the halls for a while, doing a dozen laps around the castle to get the nervous energy out of his legs, before he realized what time it was and arrived at Moody’s classroom nearly twenty minute late. He was about to swing open the door before his ear twitched, picking up voices on the other side of the old wood. 

His instincts prevented him from simply opening it anyway, and instead he reflexively relaxed his muscles, adjusting his footsteps to be near-silent as he sunk to the ground beside the door, lying against the cold stone of the hallway. He took care to gently press his ear up against the wood, near silent as he listened to the conversation going on behind it. A gasp soon escaped his lips, and before he could blink or get his feet fully under him, a ward of some sort slammed up around him, trapping him against the floor. His eyes widened as the door creaked open and sunset crept through the windows of the high-vaulted ceiling, lighting up the face of his attacker in hues of red and yellow.

As usual, his mouth moved before his mind.

“You getting married or something?”

A wordless wave of a wand, and he was out.

Sonic woke up with a gasp, harshly clutching the fluffy pillow on the bed he found himself in. He slowly pushed himself up, eyes wide as he surveyed his surroundings. 

“Hospital wing?” He murmured to himself. He shook his head, cradling it as the dizziness seeped away. Madame Pomfrey was fussing over Fred and George on the other side of the room, but she turned her finely curled head towards him in acknowledgment. 

“I didn’t know what would work and what wouldn’t, so I just Cedric to lay you down over there so you could rest. Are you feeling alright?”

Sonic shook his head, disregarding the slight headache he had. It felt like he was missing something in his head- not his figurative keys, but something more important. But what?

“Yeah, I’m… fine, I think. Why… am I here again?”

Madame Pomfrey tutted in sympathy. “I wouldn’t know, dear. Cedric says he just found you collapsed in the Great Hall! Do you have any underlying conditions?” 

“I-” Sonic coughed. He needed some water. “I don’t think so?”

“Well then, you should be good to go. You woke up just in time- I think they’re about to find out who the champions are.”

Sonic leapt off his bed, instantly regretting it upon landing and feeling as though the impact had shaken his very bone structure. What had he been doing in the Great Hall? He couldn’t remember… But he couldn’t miss this! He would just have to cook something up in the kitchens later. He refused to support an organization called ‘S.P.E.W.’ (“What kind of name is that, Hermione! People are only gonna make fun of you!” His very sound logic was ignored as Hermione continued trying to get recruits) but he also refused to support whatever was up with the house-elves.

Surely though, a glass of water wouldn’t hurt anyone?

He raced through the empty halls, excited in spite of his missing memories. He could never forget _this_. He arrived at the entrance to the Great Hall just as Dumbledore read off the first name, belonging to one Viktor Krum. Sonic politely clapped as he made his way over to the Gryffindor table, avoiding eye contact with Shadow as he passed the cheering Durmstrang students at the Slytherin table. 

“Blimey Sonic, where were you?” Ron whispered as he sat down. 

Sonic shrugged, “Ah, you know. Busy.” It was best he could come up with, especially given that he didn’t know himself.

Though he had apparently missed dinner, there were still a few pitchers of water sitting on the table, droplets of condensation running down them in rivulets as the ice melted inside. Sonic grabbed a goblet and poured himself some as he listened to Dumbledore read off the next name. He absently raised a brow at Hagrid, who had “cleaned up” (if you could call it that) and kept shooting misty-eyed lovelorn looks at Madame Maxime. 

Sonic glanced around the room, studying everything passively as he sipped his water and ‘slowly’ kicked his legs beneath the table. At the staff table, the Goblet of Fire turned from blue-white to red, spitting out a small piece of paper. 

“The champion for Beauxbatons is,” a pause, “Fleur Delacour!”

Though cheers broke out throughout the Great Hall, the students from Beauxbatons did not seem happy. Everyone at the Ravenclaw table appeared uncomfortable as two of the girls spontaneously burst into tears, burying their heads in their arms on the table. Sonic took another sip of water, feeling his headache clearing.

Fleur walked to the staff table and disappeared into a side chamber that Sonic hadn’t previously noticed. Scanning the Slytherin table, he noticed Viktor had disappeared as well. That must be the place the champions go.

The Great Hall was silent, but rather than being uncomfortable, the air was stiff with excitement. The goblet sparked, turning red once more, and spat out the last piece of paper.

“The Hogwarts champion is,” another pause, “Cedric Diggory!”

Uproar broke out across the Great Hall. The Hufflepuff table was having a meltdown, much to Sonic’s amusement. _They must not win very many things._ Every single one of them jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers’ table. The applause went on for so long that it was quite a while before Dumbledore could make himself heard again. 

“Excellent!” He called happily as the tumult died down. “Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beaxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real-”

The Goblet of Fire sparked red. A small piece of paper fluttered to the ground at Dumbledore’s feet. No one spoke, and it almost seemed as though no one breathed. Dumbledore, almost automatically it seemed, reached down to scoop the paper up. Before he had even completely straightened, the goblet’s fire was shot through once again with red, but this time a long column of flame erupted from it, seemingly some sort of beacon. 

A sudden feeling of dread shot through Sonic. _I don’t think this is how it’s supposed to go._

Dumbledore was still quiet, staring at the names written on the parchment with an unreadable expression on his face. There was a long pause. Everyone was staring at him, waiting with bated breath for his next damning words. Dumbledore eventually cleared his throat, and read, “Harry Potter!”

The Great Hall positively exploded. Automatically, Sonic turned his face towards his friend, face white as the blood drained from his face. Even before Dumbledore’s next words were spoken, Sonic felt a pit in his stomach as he turned his gaze to the Slytherin table. Before anyone could even _think_ to get a word of protest in, Dumbledore said the final, damning words.

“And Shadow T. Hedgehog!”

Sonic at Shadow. Shadow stared at Sonic. There were no words to be said between them, and indeed words would not have been able to express the sheer amount of dread on their faces. _Fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So, uh, sorry for the verrry long wait. You guys didn't deserve it. Unfortunantly, as soon as summer ends I have basically no time (and when I do, it's dedicated to either reading fics, doing schoolwork, or playing video games). So... yeah. This was a long time coming. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
> 
> Don't worry, I forgot about the ring too. Until I didn't :)
> 
> Relationships development! The boys are fighting! Moody is meddling! We're exploring characters baby!
> 
> A quick note: It's not so much here, but over on FFN some people seem to be confused about which continuity I'm using. So, just to be clear: This is games' continuity. Post-Forces. I know the Archie comics lore (trust me, I've them all!) but Archie Comic lore would seriously complicate everything and does not have a place in the story. The one and only time I mention other Sonic continuities is for humerous purposes, they will not have anything to do with character or plot. And, please, don't go blasting me in the comments about what Sonic's true backstory is. Given that I'm going by the game canon, I can make things up (headcanons, if you will), that make sense to me and that I feel would give the character more depth and development. 
> 
> Fun Fact: I almost considered not making Cedric a champion at all, but then I was like 'fuck it' because drama baby :) It's fun.
> 
> Another Fun Fact: I wrote most of this in a day. That's my writing schedule. It took about 8 hours (though it doesn't really feel like 8 hours) and is not edited, though I do my best to correct errors when I catch them. 
> 
> I'm so grateful to each and every one of you who have supported this fic. It's my only ongoing work and I have a blast writing it, but it's you guys who validate it. I love y'all, hope you're staying safe. 
> 
> One more thing: Do you guys want this story to continue? I was thinking about all the drama that J.K. Rowling has caused within the HP community and I'm just a little worried about it discouraging readers... So, let me know in the comments? 
> 
> Once again, thank you all for your support. 2020 is almost over, we can make it to a brighter future. Stay happy and healthy, everyone.


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